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. A large group of unidentified demonstrators are shown protesting the election of the board to oversee Anti-Poverty funds on Spring Street, as they march outside of Los Angeles City Hall and not far from the Los Angeles Times Building (center left, with clock) and the State Building (right). The demonstrators hold signs, some of which read, "City Council Yorty 'dupes'"; "Mayor Yorty don't ignore the wishes (and needs) of 1/2 million people"; "Of the people, For the people, and By the people"; "We the people can speak for ourselves and demand to do so!"; "Yorty's Boy's - Mills, Lindsay, Farrell, Gibson - Uncle Tom's"; "The people demand representation!" and "Poverty or Politics." Photograph dated July 12-13, 1965. See images 00128017; 00134109; 00134151; 00134153, and 00144893 through 00144900 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print : b&w ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic prints
Los Angeles City Hall (Los Angeles, Calif.) Los Angeles Times (Firm) Los Angeles Times Building California State Building (Los Angeles, Calif.) African American men Men African American women Women Protest movements Demonstrations Picketing Signs and signboards City halls Newspaper buildings Buildings Lost architecture Sidewalks Streets Lampposts Trees Flags--United States Los Angeles (Calif.)
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