{"id":14796,"date":"2012-05-24T16:06:21","date_gmt":"2012-05-24T20:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=14796"},"modified":"2012-05-24T16:08:44","modified_gmt":"2012-05-24T20:08:44","slug":"tampa-family-remembers-history-making-veteran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=14796","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Family Remem- bers History-Making Veteran"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY TAMECA JOHNSON<\/strong>
\n Freelance Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

This Memorial Day we remember the service and sacrifice made by veterans across the country.<\/p>\n

The family of one local veteran will not only spend this weekend reflecting on all their loved one gave to our country, but the legacy he leaves for the African American community.<\/p>\n

The late Dr. Raleigh Howell Allen, Jr.<\/strong>, was a Bay area native, born in Seffner in 1924.\u00a0 He made history in the early 1950s as the first Black to pass the State Board Veterinary Medicine Exam in Florida.<\/p>\n

That accomplishment was major, because in those days the white administrators of the test made passing it difficult for Blacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the Coloreds, as we were called then, went to get their license, the administrator would raise the required score needed to pass,\u201d explains Dr. Allen\u2019s<\/strong> daughter, Hollianne Allen-Wright,<\/strong> repeating a story passed through generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad\u2019s score was so high, that had they raised it just one notch, even the whites taking the test would not have passed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Allen\u2019s<\/strong> impressive feat was featured years later in Jet Magazine.<\/p>\n

He went on to practice at his own office in Keystone, near the area now known as Citrus Park, caring for bulls, horses and other large animals.\u00a0 However, lack of demand for his expertise led him to relocate to Alabama, where he got a job at Tuskegee University as head of the school\u2019s Veterinary Medicine Department.<\/p>\n

Dr. Allen\u2019s<\/strong> lists of accomplishments are many.\u00a0 His first wife, Mary Frances Allen<\/strong> remembers the years prior to college when he served in the U. S. Navy.\u00a0 \u201cHe was the youngest on the ship, the U. S. S. Decatur.\u00a0 There were a lot of Black college men on board and they were all quite brilliant,\u201d she says with pride.<\/p>\n

Dr. Allen<\/strong> held the job of Quartermaster, meaning he was in charge of navigating the ship.\u00a0 The tasks of the job were foreign to him, but Mrs. Allen says her ex-husband was a quick study at the young age of 21.<\/p>\n

The time in the military afforded Dr. Allen<\/strong> the opportunity to attend Florida A&M University, where he earned his undergraduate degree.\u00a0 Through the years, he spent time actively involved in many civic and social organizations, including Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.\u00a0 He was also inducted into Who\u2019s Who in the South and Southwest, for Outstanding Achievement.<\/p>\n

Dr. Allen<\/strong> died in 2011, but his legacy lives on in the Tampa area through his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, including his great grandson, Raleigh Howell Allen, V<\/strong>.\u00a0 This Memorial Day weekend holds an even more special meaning for his family.\u00a0 His birthday was Thursday May 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY TAMECA JOHNSON Freelance Writer This Memorial Day we remember the service and sacrifice made by veterans across the country. The family of one local veteran will not only spend this weekend reflecting on all their loved one gave to our country, but the legacy he leaves for the African American community. The late Dr. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14796\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}