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. Numerous unidentified members from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) are pictured at a social gathering, possibly a Christmas party at the home of CORE-CA founder Celes Austin King III (not pictured), located at 1240 S. Arlington Avenue. The partygoers who are gathered in a room which appears to be the living room, can be seen clapping, singing and playing guitars. The CORE, especially popular among college students, was one of the leading organizations of the Civil Rights movement that sought to desegregate hotels, restaurants, theaters, and other public places. Photograph circa 1965. See images 00144921 through 00144955 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Congress of Racial Equality African American men Young men Men African American women Young women Women College students Community activists Civil rights movements Dwellings Living room furniture Living rooms Christmas--Miscellanea Parties Musical instruments Guitarists Guitar Singing Los Angeles (Calif.)
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