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. Catholics United for Racial Equality (CURE) picket during demonstration to petition Cardinal James Francis McIntyre, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, to oppose Prop 14. CURE protesters marched from Cathedral Chapel located at 927 South La Brea Avenue (address is now 923 South La Brea), down Wilshire Boulevard to Cardinal McIntyre's Fremont Place residence. See images 00119502 through 00119503 and 00138089 through 00138116 for additional photos in this series.
Type
Image
Format
1 photographic print : b&w ; 10x13 cm. Photographic prints
Catholics United for Racial Equality Civil rights demonstrations--California--Los Angeles Catholics--California--Los Angeles Signs and signboards--California--Los Angeles Los Angeles (Calif.)
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