Portland Observer D ecem ber 13. 1979 Pag« 3
Portland 'pioneer' visits friends
By Kathryn H. Bogle
Portland friends extended a warm
welcome home to Dr. W illiam D.
Allen and to his sister, Mrs. N. Con
stance Allen Beaty when recently
they returned to this city for a brief
visit.
The visitors, born in Portland,
were two children o f the late W. D.
Allen and Mrs. Allen. Their younger
brother, Charles Robert Allen, him
self a frequent visitor to the old
home tow n, is a resident o f Los
Angeles. History buffs o f Portland's
Black Community of the early 1900s
recognize the family name o f W. D.
A llen as being linked w ith the
popular ‘ ‘ Golden W'est” hotel
flourishing in that period. The Allens
owned and operated that hostelry,
and along w ith it as a podium ,
“ W. D. ” wielded great influence in
the entire community. The structure
still remains on N.W. Everett Street
at Broadway across from the U.S.
Customs building.
The A llen fa m ily closed the
Golden W'est in the depression years
o f the late 1930s. Charles Robert
Allen, the younger son, entered the
hotel business with the opening o f
the Medley H otel on Interstate
Avenue. The Medley received its
name honoring the memory o f
Lillian Medley Allen, W.D. Allen’s
gentle and beloved wife.
The lives o f William D. Allen Jr.
and his sister, N. Constance Beaty,
have revolved around music. Mrs.
Beaty, an early graduate o f Fernwood
grade school, was the first Black
student to be graduated by Grant High
School, newly built about that time.
She went on to be graduated in music
by Oberlin, and later taught piano
classes at Prairie View College in
Texas. She has continued her
classwork w ith being a church
organist.
William D. Allen Jr. a Jefferson
High graduate, went on to Oberlin
and to Juiliard to received advance
degrees in music; he studied in France,
Austria and Poland and returned to the
states to teach piano at Howard Uni
versity for several years.
He interrupted his teaching career
to travel as accompanist to Todd
Duncan, the great baritone.
Together they played repeatedly for
ten years, to enthusiastic audiences
all over the United States, Europe
and A ustralia. A lle n ’ s scrapbook
marks the time they played a com
mand performance for the King o f
Sweden, and it also marks their
special performance for George Gersh
win who wanted to Find the male lead
for his new folk opera, “ Porgy and
Bess’’ . Gershwin picked Todd Duncan
for this important role and so the con
cert team was broken.
A return to teaching was easily ac
cessible and Allen this time, taught
for five or six years at Fisk Univer
sity before gravitating to fam iliar
places o f the West Coast.
Allen now makes his home in the
Bay area. For many years he headed
the Junior Bach Festival in the Bay
area, but he is also well known for
Charles R obert Allen suffered
an a p p a re n t h e a rt a tta c k and
d ie d , N o v e m b e r 22, a t a Los
Angeles hospital.
M r. Allen was born in Portland.
O regon and w as a grad uate of
H ow ard University in the school
of business a d m in is tra tio n . He
was a veteran of W orld W ar II,
saw service in the South Pacific
and was wounded, receiving the
Purple Heart.
He w a s e m p lo y e d fo r m an y
his establishing o f a school o f music
fo r elementary school children in
O akland. The school, modestly
begun w ith modest expectations,
mushroomed from the beginning
handful o f children to an enrollment
numbering into the hundreds making
it difficult for management to keep
pace with faculty and instruments.
Retirement has been attempted on
several occasions, but Allen finds it
difficult to stay retired. It was only a
few weeks ago, that he formally and
resolutely relinquished his position
as minister o f music at the South
Berkeley Community Church where he
has been an organist for 25 years,
and, probably, it was at the beautiful
reception that special evening ten
dered by the appreciative church
members in Allen’ s honor, that he
agreed to be pianist for an intimate
little ensemble then forming.
As he walked through the halls o f
the school, Dr. Allen was greeted
w arm ly by students, and one
produced the 1924 year book con
taining Dr. A lle n 's picture which
carried (he information (hat William
Allen was the composer o f the 1924
graduating senior’s class song.
During their stay. Dr. Allen and
Mrs. Beaty made a special call on
two teachers, Miss Irene Campbell
and Miss Edith Watt, at their home
in Southwest Portland.
Both teachers retired from Jeffer
son in 1950 and both had taught
W illiam Allen. Now 88 years old.
Miss Watt remembers W illiam well
in her history classes for "he was a
good student.” Miss Campbell, a
vivacious and sparkling little lady o f
93 years, taught Latin to him and
remembers that he had a little d if
ficulty with cicero. Relationships are
solid with these three as Dr. Allen
has visited them a number o f times
through the years.
Mrs. Beaty and Dr. Allen thinks
often o f Portland, but are content
fo r the present, just to visit and
return to sunnier weather.
In Portland, Dr. Allen revisited
Jefferson High School and was in
vited to speak to music classes by Dr.
Douglas Butler o f Jefferson’s music-
department. Several o f Dr. Butler’s
students played for Dr. Allen and he
delighted the class by playing for
them.
M iss Edith W a tt, M rs . N allia C o n stan ca B aaty,
Miss Irana Cam pball and Dr. W illiam Duncan Allan
DES
CONNALL
Professional Corporation
LEGAL CLINIC
CONCENTRATING IN THE FIELDS OF:
Music session at Jefferson ends on a "Happy Note ". Dr. Douglas
Butler and Dr. W illiam D. Allen
(Photo: M arcelene Rodgers)
years by W e s te rn A irlin e s but
also worked as an accountant in
self-em ploym ent.
Hom e for M r. Allen was in Los
Angeles, but he w as frequently a
Portland visitor and had a n um
ber of friends in this city. His son,
A nthony Rodgers Allen, lives in
P o rtla n d and is e m p lo y e d by
Good Sam aritan Hospital in the
pathology laboratory.
M r. A lle n leaves his w id o w ,
D o ro th y L. A lle n , his son A n
thony; a sister Nellie Constance
B e a ty of El C e rrito , C a lif; a
brother W illiam Duncan Allen Jr.
of San Francisco, and an au n t,
L illian A lle n D a rd e n of P e te r
sburg, Virginia.
M e m o ria l services w e re held
D e c e m b e r 1, a t In g le w o o d
Cem etery M ortuary in Inglew ood
C a lifo rn ia
The fa m ily had
re q u e s te d
th a t
in s te a d
of
flo w e rs , co n trib u tio n s be m ade
e ith e r to th e A m e ric a n H e a rt
A s s o c ia tio n , or to o n e 's o w n
favorite charity.
f >cc IS truly a plate with programs designed to serve the people in the district at a reasonable cost Anyone with a sincere
desire to learn may enroll To find out more about Portland Community College call or stop at one of the main centers
C o lle g e t r a n s f e r
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Information
Portland Community College
12000 SW 49th Avenue
Portland. Oregon 97219
talk about tha old days during Dr. A llan's racant visit
to Portland.
(Photo: Richard B rown)
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