There were Black doctors who lived in the same neighborhood as Black laborers and maids. Dr. Charles A. Allen was one of them. He was born in the British West Indies. Before he came to Truxton Circle, he lived over at 1525 5th St NW, as a lodger of a porter. He also liked to write letters to the Editor regarding matters of health.
He showed up in Shaw in the 1920 census. He was the sole lodger of Nelson and Sadie Harvey at 1525 5th St NW. They also lived with their 6 year old son and Sadies’ widowed mother. The house no longer exists and is part of the KIPP campus.
In the 1930 census Dr. Allen lived in 1217 New Jersey Ave NW as a homeowner. Looking at the DC Recorder of Deeds records, he didn’t become the official owner until 1940. In July of 1940 the heirs of Lena Rohr sold the property to Moses H. Dade, who in the next document sold it to Dr. Charles A. and wife Cora Allen.
It may be safe to assume that the 42-ish old Dr. Allen married the 40 year old Cora Elexzenia Cupid between 1930 and 1940. Cora shows up in the 1930 census as a single woman. She resided at 422 Florida Ave heading the household living with her brother, 2 sisters, a nephew and a sister in law. She was a 40 year old hairdresser. Prior to that she was a dressmaker. After snagging a doctor husband she made homemaking her occupation.
In 1940 and 1950 Dr. Allen and his wife were the only occupants of 1217 New Jersey Ave NW.
Dr. Allen was 70 years old when he died at the hospital in 1955. He served at the Freedmens Hospital for more than 30 years. He was survived by his wife, a sister, Irene St. Luce and a niece Muriel Pierson. The funeral was held at Galbraith AME Zion Church His wife joined him in death in February 1964.
Thousands of people have lived in the Truxton Circle neighborhood for over 100 years and they have thousands of stories. The goal of the Truxton Circle History Project is to find every man, woman, and child who lived in the neighborhood using every available source. The Project uses the 1880-1950 censuses, the power of Ancestry and every other online resource to discover and uncover neighborhood history.