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.; Gloria Curtis began her career in Education in 1953 and retired as director of volunteer programs for the LAUSD in 1988. In 1964, Gloria was tasked with researching and writing biographies on famous African Americans to incorporate into existing textbooks which lacked heroes of color. She went on to co-author several textbooks highlighting minorities in history. It is due to Gloria's kind generosity that the Rolland J. Curtis Collection of Negatives and Photographs is a part of the Los Angeles Public Library's Photo Collection. Gloria Curtis (in beige skirt suit, second from left) is shown holding a rosary as she and a group of people walk outside the entrance of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, located at 1531 West 9th Street, during a demonstration lead by Catholics United for Racial Equality (CURE). The unidentified woman walking ahead holds a sign which reads, "Catholics For Fair Housing." The group had requested that Cardinal James Francis McIntyre (not pictured) and the Archdiocese take a stand on civil rights issues. The demonstration took place in June 1964. See images 00125557, and 00141819 through 00141831 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Curtis, Gloria Catholic Church.--Archdiocese of Los Angeles (Calif.) Catholics United for Racial Equality African American men Men African American women Women Educators Community activists Civil rights demonstrations Demonstrations Church committees Church buildings Glass doors Doors Signs and signboards Candles Rosary Los Angeles (Calif.)
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