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.; Louis Daniel Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1901. With only a fifth-grade education he dropped out to work for the Jewish Karnofsky family who treated Armstrong as their own, teaching him to speak fluently in Yiddish and earn enough money to purchase his first instrument--the Cornet. In 1912 he was arrested for firing a gun in the air and sent to detention at the Colored Waif's Home for Boys where he learned how to properly play the cornet from the warden and music director, Peter Davis. Armstrong became the leader of the Waif's Home Brass Band until his release in 1914. Joe "King" Oliver, a popular cornetist became Armstrong's mentor and soon after he was playing on Mississippi riverboats as an in-demand cornetist. In 1922 Armstrong left to Chicago with Oliver and joined a band and by 1925, for the first time he began making music under his name. Armstrong had become influential in the jazz scene as well as for Civil Rights, speaking out against the 1957 high school integration "Little Rock Nine". Armstrong performed nearly until his death; having his first heart attack in 1959, heart and kidney problems in 1968 that landed him in intensive care and then returned to touring (against the advice of his doctors) in 1970. It is believed that his last performance was for the Inauguration for the National Press Club President, Vernon Louviere on January 29, 1971, only a couple months before passing in his sleep on July 6, 1971.; Thomas J. "Tom" Bradley (1917-1998) was a popular Los Angeles mayor that served in office from 1973-1993. Bradley's five-term tenure (20 years), marked the longest tenure by any mayor in Los Angeles city's history - surpassing Fletcher Bowron (15 years in office). Bradley's career started in 1940 when he joined the Los Angeles Police Department where in a short period of time, he reached the rank of lieutenant - the highest rank held by an African American police officer at the time. While working on the force, Bradley attended night school at Southwestern University School of Law, and in 1956 he passed his bar exam and received his law degree. From 1963-1972 Bradley served on the Los Angeles City Council - 10th District, and while in office, challenged incumbent mayor Sam Yorty for the 1969 mayoral seat, which he lost. He again ran in 1973, and this time successfully unseated Yorty to become the 38th Mayor of Los Angeles. Nine years after his mayoral win, in 1982 and again in 1986, Bradley ran for Governor of California, but was defeated both times by Republican George Deukmejian. During his record-breaking tenure, Mayor Bradley hosted the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, was a driving force behind construction of the Los Angeles' light rail network, pushed for the expansion of Los Angeles International Airport and the development of the terminals in use today, and was elected for a fifth mayoral term in 1989. He chose to leave office in 1993, rather than seek election to a sixth term. In 1996 Bradley suffered a heart attack and underwent triple bypass surgery; the following day he suffered a stroke which left him unable to speak clearly for the rest of his life, and his condition limited his public appearances. Sadly, in 1998 at the age of 80, Tom Bradley suffered a fatal heart attack while at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. He is interred in Inglewood Park Cemetery. Mayor Bradley was the first - and to date the only - African American mayor of this city. Pictured from left to right are musician Louis Armstrong, City Councilman Tom Bradley, and Governor Pat Brown, who is presenting Armstrong with a resolution for his musical contributions over the past 50 years. A drum set can be seen set up behind the three gentlemen, though no location has been given. Photograph dated October 26, 1966. See images 00119441 through 00119447 and 00138046 through 00138049 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 color negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Armstrong, Louis,--1901-1971 Bradley, Tom,--1917-1998 Brown, Edmund G.--(Edmund Gerald),--1905-1996 Resolutions Governors City council members African American politicians African American men Jazz musicians Trumpet players Musicians Singers Men Drums (Musical instruments) Los Angeles (Calif.)
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