Summary: Dr. Irving Allen is the son of Elizabeth Fletcher and J. Chester Allen. They were lawyers who, among their many actions, helped integrate the Engman Public Natatorium. As black professionals though, the Allen’s faced aggressions—mostly from their South Bend neighbors and colleagues, but even from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. In August 2004, Dr. Allen sat down with Dr. Les Lamon, David Healey, and John Charles Bryant. He spoke about his parents’ perceptions of racism, their history of advocacy, and their legacies. Want to learn more about South Bend’s history? View the photographs and documents that helped create it. Visit our website at http://crhc.iusb.edu and tap "Local History and Archives." Title music, “History Explains Itself,” from Josh Spacek. Visit his page on the Free Music Archive, http://www.freemusicarchive.org/.
