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Image / Drag contest, Club Alabam

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Title
Drag contest, Club Alabam
Alternative Title
Shades of L.A. Photo Collection;
Creator
Woods, Clyde
Contributor
Shades of L.A. is an archive of photographs representing the contemporary and historic diversity of families in Los Angeles. Images were chosen from family albums and include daily life, social organizations, work, personal and holiday celebrations, and migration and immigration activities. Made possible and accessible through the generous support of the Security Pacific National Bank, Sunlaw Cogeneration Partners, Photo Friends, California Council for the Humanities, the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation
Date Created and/or Issued
Circa 1945
Contributing Institution
Los Angeles Public Library
Collection
Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
Rights Information
Images available for reproduction and educational use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at http://tessa.lapl.org/orderinguse.html for additional information.
The contents of this collection are restricted to personal, research, and non-commercial use. The Library cannot share the personal and/or contact information of the donors, their descendants, or associates who contributed photographs and oral histories to the collection.
Description
Image is a reproduction.
Walter Lear Gordon, Jr. was born in Santa Monica, California, on June 22nd, 1908. He was African American. He grew up in Shutson Park (now called Rose Hill Park), near Pasadena, and attended Rose Hill Grammar School and then Lincoln High School. The neighborhood and grammar school were almost entirely white. After high school, he attended USC for two years before attending Ohio State University In 1936 he graduated from Ohio State Law School. After graduation, Walter and a friend moved back to California where they promoted shows and held dances under the name “Gordon and Nickens.” In 1948 Walter was married and practicing law in Santa Monica when both of his parents were murdered during a robbery. He defended Billie Holiday in several lawsuits and worked mainly in divorces and criminal defense. Most of his clients were also black. He was married five times and had three children with his second wife, Anne Franklin. He ran for a Republican seat in Congress in 1954-55 but was unsuccessful. He continued to work as a lawyer well into the 1990s.
Contestants fill the dance floor during a drag contest at Club Alabam, located at 42nd and Central Avenue in Los Angeles, hosted by Bill Hefflin.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;20 x 26 cm.
Photographic prints
Identifier
00002073
Shades of L.A. Collection; Shades of L.A.: African American Community;
S-001-368 120
CARL0005079478
http://173.196.26.125/cdm/ref/collection/photos/id/81190
Subject
Club Alabam (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Drag shows--California--Los Angeles
Nightclubs--California--South Los Angeles (Los Angeles)
South Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Shades of L.A. Collection photographs
Shades of L.A. African American photographs
Time Period
1941-1950
Source
Gordon, Walter.

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