What:

A dedication ceremony to be held at the Oceanside First Street Post Office

Who:

Speakers:
Marilyn McKim, Postmaster, U.S. Postal Service
Mike Levin, Congressman, U.S. House of Representatives
Eshter Sanchez, Mayor, Oceanside, CA
Satia Austin, President, NSDC NAACP
Kristi Hawthorne, President, Oceanside Historical Society
Eddie Parks, nephew of Charlesetta Reece Allen

When:

Thursday, February 20, 2025
11 a.m.

Where:

Oceanside First Street Post Office
517 Seagaze Dr.
Oceanside, CA 92054

Background:

On November 25, 2024, Public Law No: 118-121 designated the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 517 Seagaze Dr.
Oceanside, California, as the “Charlesetta Reece Allen Building.”

Charlesetta Reece Allen moved to Oceanside in the 1930s where she met and married local resident John Callen Mann. She established the Church of God and Christ in 1941 with her sister and served as the minister of the Church.

She worked as a cook in a downtown Oceanside restaurant before she began to cater food out of her own home and eventually opening her own restaurant, the first Black-owned storefront in Oceanside.

In 1965, Charlesetta was installed as the first President of the North County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She also founded the Oceanside Girls Club where she served as Director.

Thursday’s ceremony will mark the official designation of the postal facility.

This dedication recognizes Ms. Reece Allen’s public service. Her dedication to the Oceanside community will continue to inspire generations to come.

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