By China Cassidy In 1957, a 16-year-old girl gave birth to a baby boy but for reasons unknown, gave him up for adoption and the records were sealed along with any clues as to who she is. Marshall Allen was that child. Living in Texas, he is now a retired firefighter, former golden glove boxer and subject of both the book and documentary, Swingman, and has begun his search to find his birth mother who he believes was from Holbrook. In a letter to her he wrote, “Mother, wherever you are, I am doing well. In 1957, I was born in Holbrook, Arizona. While I do not and, perhaps may never know, why you took the course of action you chose, I owe you my life.” He goes on to state he has had a professionally rewarding life. “I have fought raging infernos, delivered babies and saved lives. I stood up for those who could not speak for themselves; I stood up to those who would not listen.” For his accomplishments, Allen has been profiled in a book and film documenting his life. “For my (adoptive) parents, I worked hard to honor them and make them proud. But it is also to you that I am eternally grateful.” Allen explained that he was adopted two times before finally settling in with his adoptive parents in Utah, just before his second birthday. For Allen, who is half black and half white, some of his experiences growing up as a biracial child in the 1960s and 1970s was part of why he was reluctant to find his birth mom until now. “My mother told me about my adoption when I was 10 and I never particularly had any want or desire to seek out my biological parents.” He stated that he was concerned about how it would impact her life with the sudden appearance of a black child in her life. “I never wanted to endanger my mother by popping up.” Years after the revelation of his adoption and overcoming the obstacles he faced because of his mixed heritage background, Allen became the first black firefighter in Salt Lake City and he was also an exceptional boxer who missed qualifying for the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico by one fight. In the mid-1990s, his wife became determined to uncover what she could about Allen’s birth parents. “My second wife was very interested in pursuing this. We finally got to the point where it was court ordered sealed and the judge told me that he couldn’t unseal it without a compelling reason but he didn’t specify what a compelling reason was,” explained Allen. They were at a dead end with nothing left to do. In his research, Allen said that the only information he was able to retrieve was his mother’s race and age and his father’s race saying, “My biological mother was a 16-year-old white girl and my father was a black man.” After he failed in his attempt to locate his birth mother, he put the idea away once again. Allen continued his career as a firefighter but in July of 2001, while on a 30-mile bike ride, he ran over a stick that threw him from his bike and into a ditch. As an emergency responder Allen had enough training to know that he broke his neck on impact, an injury that left him paralyzed. In what would be a dark time for Allen, who was now a quadriplegic recovering in the hospital, Allen’s co-workers brought him a letter he had received at the fire station. In an interesting turn of events, the letter revealed that he had a daughter, Talaya, which he had no knowledge of prior to reading the letter and who was 21 years old. The father would meet his own biological daughter for the first time and even informally adopt her sister, making it eight children that he considered his own along with stepchildren from his second wife. Even after his accident, Allen continued working for the fire department and eventually retired. He can drive for himself and lives on his own with the help of a part time aide and uses splints on his hands to help him with basic activities, as he now has limited mobility in parts of his hands. After struggling with depression and anxiety even before his accident, Allen has become an advocate for mental health awareness and has spoken at many conferences as part of his advocacy. During a chance meeting while at a Starbucks, Allen met author Alexandra Allred who was coincidentally stopping in for a break from a 30-mile bike ride. Allred said, after noticing his firefighter emblem and seeing him in a wheel chair, she was naturally curious how it happened and convinced him to let her write a book about him, which later became a documentary. While Allen has led a diverse and interesting life, finding his birth mom would make it complete. For those who may have information on Allen’s birth mother, please reach out to him by calling (469) 774-5000 or by emailing marshallallen@icloud.com.
