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 is pictured sitting in the barbers chair after having her hair done at the Magnificent Bros Hair Salon 2, located at 1568 E. 103rd Place. Her hairdresser is unidentified. Images of hairstyles can be seen in the background. Photograph circa 1965. See images 000148589 through 000148596 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Curtis, Gloria Curtis, Rolland J.--Family Magnificent Bros Hair Salon African American women Women African American men Men Barbers Business districts Barbershops Salons Stores & shops Hairdressing Hairstyles Afro (Hairstyle) Hair Smiling Watts (Los Angeles, Calif.)
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
