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.; Created by the Los Angeles City Council in August, 1944, the Bureau of Music had three objectives: "(1) to make Los Angeles one of the truly important cultural centers of the world; (2) to bring to the average citizen, to the children of the community, growing girls and boys, greater music appreciation; (3) and to combat juvenile delinquency and break down the barriers between races and creeds" (Source: Foster, 1946). "With its official slogan of 'More Music for More People,' in 1947 the bureau began a program of youth choruses, adult choruses, and community sings that soon became its significant feature. The program, which presented community singing, followed by talent show-style local entertainment, garnered high praise" (Source: Macias, 2004). By the late 1970s, the Bureau of Music was presenting more than 450 variety shows a year for a wide range of groups throughout the city. A stylish unidentified woman can be seen on stage and appears to be introducing a musical group waiting to perform at the Los Angeles Bureau of Music event. The band members pictured in the background and the young spectators on the left are also unidentified. The Los Angeles Bureau of Music was a division of the Municipal Arts Department. Photograph circa 1972. See images 00128551 through 00128553 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 color negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Bureau of Music (Los Angeles, Calif.) African American women Women African American men Men African American children Children Musicians Music and children Drums (Musical instruments) Cymbals Musical instruments Microphones Stages (Platforms) Los Angeles (Calif.)
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