Title supplied by cataloger. Rolland Joseph 'Speedy' Curtis was born in Louisiana in 1922. After serving three years in the Marines during World War II, he and his wife, Gloria, relocated from New Orleans to Los Angeles in 1946. Curtis served four years with the Los Angeles Police Department, but resigned from the force in order to pursue both a Bachelor's and Master's degree from USC. He later became involved in city politics, as an associate of Sam Yorty, and later a field deputy to City Council members Billy Mills and Tom Bradley. He was briefly director of the Model Cities program in 1973. Rolland J. Curtis died in his home in 1979, the victim of a homicide. An affordable housing complex on Exposition Blvd. near Vermont Ave. was named in his honor in 1981, along with a nearby street and park.; Thomas J. "Tom" Bradley (1917-1998) was a popular Los Angeles mayor that served in office from 1973-1993. Bradley's five-term tenure (20 years), marked the longest tenure by any mayor in Los Angeles city's history - surpassing Fletcher Bowron (15 years in office). Bradley's career started in 1940 when he joined the Los Angeles Police Department where in a short period of time, he reached the rank of lieutenant - the highest rank held by an African American police officer at the time. While working on the force, Bradley attended night school at Southwestern University School of Law, and in 1956 he passed his bar exam and received his law degree. From 1963-1972 Bradley served on the Los Angeles City Council - 10th District, and while in office, challenged incumbent mayor Sam Yorty for the 1969 mayoral seat, which he lost. He again ran in 1973, and this time successfully unseated Yorty to become the 38th Mayor of Los Angeles. Nine years after his mayoral win, in 1982 and again in 1986, Bradley ran for Governor of California, but was defeated both times by Republican George Deukmejian. During his record-breaking tenure, Mayor Bradley hosted the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, was a driving force behind construction of the Los Angeles' light rail network, pushed for the expansion of Los Angeles International Airport and the development of the terminals in use today, and was elected for a fifth mayoral term in 1989. He chose to leave office in 1993, rather than seek election to a sixth term. In 1996 Bradley suffered a heart attack and underwent triple bypass surgery; the following day he suffered a stroke which left him unable to speak clearly for the rest of his life, and his condition limited his public appearances. Sadly, in 1998 at the age of 80, Tom Bradley suffered a fatal heart attack while at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. He is interred in Inglewood Park Cemetery. Mayor Bradley was the first African American mayor of this city.; George Edward Brown (1920-1999) entered the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1938, but his college education was interrupted by the draft. In 1944, he entered the United States Army serving in World War II and once the war ended he returned to college, finishing his education at UCLA where he graduated with a BS degree in Industrial Physics in 1946. In 1954, Brown was elected as a member of the city council of Monterey Park, and served until 1958. In 1956, Brown became the mayor of Monterey Park, California, an office he held until 1958. He was a member of the California State Assembly from 1959 to 1963. In 1962, Brown won the election and became a member of the United States House of Representatives, where he served from 1963 to 1970. A few of Brown's achievements include involvement in the passage of the Civil Rights Act; helped found the University Cooperative Housing Association (UHCA) in 1938; helped organize protests in Los Angeles in 1942 of the Japanese American internment camps; the George Brown Act of 1961 was one of the first comprehensive public employee labor relations laws in the nation; actively supported the farmworker organizing of Cesar Chavez and the mid-1960s grape boycott; served as chairman of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, which is now the House Committee on Science; he was known as a champion for science, and was also was a staunch defender of civil liberties and human rights. Other accomplishments during his service on the House Science Committee are as follows: Convened the first congressional hearings on Climate Change; Established the first federal climate change research program in the [National Climate Program Act of 1978; Established the Office of Science and Technology Policy; Established the Environmental Protection Agency; and established the (the now defunct) Office of Technology Assessment. Brown died on July 15, 1999, at the age of 79 while he was serving his 18th term in the House. At the time of his death, He was the oldest serving House member and the longest-serving member of the House or Senate in the history of his home state of California. Councilman Tom Bradley (right) is seen in conversation with Democratic candidate George Brown outside of his campaign headquarters during his unsuccessful United States Senate campaign. Signs posted at the entrance read, "Democratic Headquarters - George Brown for U.S. Senate," and "Tom Bradley says vote for George Brown, Democrat for U.S. Senate." A campaign worker is partially visible in the background. Photograph circa 1970. See images 00123701, 00123702; 00128495 through 00128497, and 00128500 through 00128507 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Bradley, Tom,--1917-1998 Brown, George Edward,--1920-1999 African American men Men City council members Legislators African American politicians Politicians Political campaigns Political candidates Political participation Political parties Political posters Campaign management Signs and signboards Smiling Los Angeles (Calif.)
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