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 with 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.; Elected in 1963, Billy G. Mills (1929-) was the third African American to serve on the Los Angeles City Council, a seat he held until 1974 when he became a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. He was the first African American chairman of the Democratic County Central Committee, winning over fellow Councilman Tom Bradley by just three votes.; Bill Greene (1930-2002) was a freedom rider in the South, during the violent years of the Civil Rights Movement. Having served a prison sentence for his part in the demonstrations in Mississippi, he escaped from a Louisiana jail after another arrest and became a fugitive, shortly before becoming engaged to his wife. Greene began his career as the first African American clerk in the California Assembly. By 1967, he had succeeded Mervyn Dymally, taking over Dymally's Assembly seat, and again in 1975, claiming Dymally's recently vacated Senate seat. Leon Ralph (center), the Democratic Assembly candidate in the 55th District, is pictured at his testimonial dinner shaking hands with Attorney General Tom Lynch. At left is Assemblyman Reverend F. Douglas Ferrell, Bill Greene (2nd from right), the Democratic Assembly candidate in the 53rd District, and Councilman Billy Mills (far right) at the International Hotel on October 12, 1966. See images 00053366; 00120490; 00128577 through 00128580; 00138728 through 00138733 and 00138735 through 00138767 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Ralph, Leon D Lynch, Thomas C.--(Thomas Connor),--1904-1986 Ferrell, Frederick Douglas,--1944-1982 Greene, Bill,--1930-2002 Mills, Billy G International Hotel (Los Angeles, Calif.) Political candidates City council members Attorneys general--California Lawyers Politicians Legislators African American politicians African American legislators African American men Men Handshaking Westchester (Los Angeles, Calif.)
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