Texas Legislators: Past & Present

Richard Allen

Full Name: Richard Allen
Birth date: June 10, 1830
Death date: May 16, 1909

Terms of Service

House, 13th ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ ⁽⁶⁾ Legislature
1/14/1873 - 3/22/1873
Republican
House, 12th ⁽¹⁾ ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾ Legislature
2/8/1870 - 1/14/1873

(1) 12th Legislature, Provisional Session - Qualified and took the oath of office on 2/8/1870. House Journal .
(2) Resolution adopted in contested election case of Gustave Cook, et al. v. Richard Allen, et al., 3/20/1873, p. 407; special order resumed, resolutions and majority report adopted, 3/21/1873, pp. 411-413; E.T. Schmidt and Gustave Cook sworn 3/22/1873, p. 414. House Journal . March 20, 1873
March 21, 1873
March 22, 1873
(3) Gustave Cook, sworn 3/22/1873, unseated Richard Allen in election contest the same day. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(4) Party affiliation, Radical. Texas Almanac for . . . and Emigrant's Guide to Texas .
(5) Radical Republican Association, established 6/4/1870, p. 26. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.
(6) Richard Allen and Em Anderson unseated in March 1873, testimony of Goldsteen Dupree, pp. 41-42. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.

Biographical Notes and Resources

Resolutions and Journal entries

79th Legislature, R.S., HR 589, paying tribute to African American legislators and constitutional convention delegates of 1868-1900. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary .
81st Legislature, R.S., HCR 81, paying tribute to African American legislators and constitutional convention delegates. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary .
85th Legislature, R.S., HR 452, celebrating Black History Month and honoring the leadership and vision of African American lawmakers. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary .
88th Legislature, R.S., SCR 13, Recognizing the Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. SB 667, Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary . SB 667 SCR 13
88th Legislature, R.S., SCR 13, Recognizing the Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. SB 667, Texas Black Reconstruction Legislators Recognition Act. Resolutions - Legislative Policy . SB 667 SCR 13

Photographs

Photograph. Richard Allen, State Preservation Board

Other Resources

"The Roots of Texas' Black Lawmakers," 3/18/1996. Describes lack of available information on Texas' first African American legislators. Austin American-Statesman .
Biographical information, pp. 56-57. Black Leaders: Texans for Their Times 1981.
Biographical sketch, p. 76 (footnote 29). Black Leaders: Texans for Their Times 1981.
Mentioned in Black Texans: a History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995 1996.
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, Houston, Texas. "A red brick church was designed by African American Richard Allen, a former member of the Texas Legislature, and became the first house of worship owned by African Americans in Houston." BlackPast.org .
Biographical information in Alwyn Barr, "Black Legislators of Reconstruction Texas," Volume 32, Number 4, December 1986, pp. 340-352. Civil War History .
Portrait and biographical sketch. Forever Free: Nineteenth Century African-American Legislators and Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas 2002.
ALLEN, RICHARD (1830-1909). In 1878, "the conservative wing of the Republican party nominated him for lieutenant governor, thereby making him the first black to seek statewide office in Texas." Handbook of Texas Online .
Biographical sketch, p. 39, History of the Republican Party in Texas 1865-1965 1965.
Mentioned in Minority Civil Rights and the Texas Legislature 2018.
Mentioned in Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants 1970.
Biographical sketch, pp. 19-20. Chapter 11, "Richard Allen: The Opportunist," pp. 190-194. Birth year 1830, death year 1909, Appendix D. Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1868-1898 2016.
Mentioned, pp. 147-156. Time of Hope, Time of Despair: Black Texans During Reconstruction 1981.