In honor of Alwin Benjamin Holman’s 100th birthday, the City of San Diego officially declared December 26 as Alwin Benjamin Holman Day.
Holman was the first Black San Diego firefighter to serve in a station other than Station 19 in the historically Black Southcrest neighborhood, instead joining an all-white San Diego fire station in 1951, breaking the SDFD color barrier. Holman served with the SDFD for 32 years, eventually becoming one of the first Black Battalion Fire Chiefs in California and the city’s first Black Deputy fire chief.
Born in Alton, Illinois in 1925, Holman joined the U.S. Navy in 1944 and was stationed in San Diego the next year. After working briefly for the U.S. Postal Service following World War II, Holman decided to pursue a career as a firefighter.
Despite every Black firefighter in San Diego having been segregated and being placed at Station 19 off of Oceanview, “One day the Chief pulled me aside and told me they wanted me to train at Station 14 on 32nd and Lincoln. The Chief told me that I was going to be his Jackie Robsinon of the Fire Department and that I would be one of the first Black Firemen to serve outside of Station 19,” Holman told the Voice & Viewpoint in 2024.
Having retired in 1983, the declaration not only commemorates Holman’s landmark birthday but also cements his legacy as a trailblazer whose courage and service helped reshape the San Diego Fire Department and the city he served.
Read the full profile on Alwin Benjamin Holman from 2024 online at www.sdvoice.info.