Juneteenth Celebration

We are no more aliens to this country or to its institutions than our brothers in white… Together we planted the tree of liberty and watered its roots with our tears and blood, and under its branches we will stay and be sheltered.

-Thomas E. Miller

Martha Yates Jones & Pinkie Yates in a buggy decorated for the annual Juneteenth celebration (c. 1895- 1905)

Joint the Friends of Allensworth Cooperating Association and the California Department of Parks and Recreation as we celebrate Juneteenth. Come enjoy the live entertainment on stage, shop in the vendor area, and tour the historic homes and businesses.

 

The California Red Tails, one of fourteen Black Pilots of America chapters, will perform a fly over during the Juneteenth celebration.  

When: Saturday, June 14, 2014

Time: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Where: Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park

For more information or to request a vendor application contact Friends of Allensworth President Thomas Stratton at 530-949-2168 or info@friendsofallensworth.org.

Red Tails Fly Over Allensworth

 

Early on the morning of February 8^th, ten private airplanes from throughout California; Hayward, Watsonville, Compton, Whiteman, Cable, and Hawthorne will descend on the Delano Municipal Airport.  They will receive a short safety briefing and pre-flight review then remount their planes and taxi to runway 32.  After receiving clearance from the tower they will takeoff one after the other and head north.

Upon receiving the signal from the ground crew, the pilots will turn south, then lineup in a formation. The lead pilot gives the command “Tighten Up, Straighten Up and Fly Right” and the formation drops down to 1,000 ft as they fly over the Black History Month celebration at Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park. 

The pilots are members of the California Red Tails, one of fourteen Black Pilots of America chapters. The Black Pilots of America is a non-profit flying organization that encourages under privileged youth to enter the field of aviation. The California Red Tails are named after 332^nd fighter group, the African American fighter pilots that escorted bombers during World War Two. They are better known as the Tuskegee Airmen because they were trained at Tuskegee, Alabama. 

The campground at Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park is named after Tuskegee Airmen Lieutenant Colonel John "Mr. Death" L. Whitehead, Jr.,  who served in World War Two, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.