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.; Photograph included in the Exhibit: Firsts, Seconds and Thirds: African American Leaders in Los Angeles During the 1960s and '70s from the Rolland J. Curtis Collection. Wilson Riles (1917-1999) was the first African American to be elected to statewide office in California, as well as the first to be elected to as State Superintendent of Schools in the nation. Riles held the seat of California State Superintendent of Public Instruction for three terms, serving from 1970-1982. Wilson Riles campaigns for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction with Councilman Tom Bradley outside of Magnificent Bros Hair Salon 2, located at 1568 E. 103rd Street in Watts.
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Image
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1 negative :safety ;10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Riles, Wilson C Bradley, Tom,--1917-1998 California.--Superintendent of Public Instruction Magnificent Bros Hair Salon City council members--California--Los Angeles School superintendents--California Children--California--Los Angeles Men--California--Los Angeles Lampposts--California--Los Angeles Sidewalks--California--Watts (Los Angeles) Streets--California--Watts (Los Angeles) 103rd Street (Los Angeles, Calif.) Compton Avenue (Los Angeles, Calif.) Watts (Los Angeles, Calif.)
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