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.; Born in Trinidad, Mervyn Dymally (1926-2012) moved to the United States at the age of 19 and became a citizen in 1957. In 1962, he became the first foreign-born black lawmaker elected to the Assembly. In 1966, he was the first African American elected to the state Senate, and California's first African American Lieutenant Governor in 1974. Dymally had amazing staying power. In 2002, he found himself dissatisfied with the candidates for his original Assembly seat and chose to run again, winning back the seat he'd left, at the age of 76.; Elected in 1963, Billy G. Mills (1929-) was the third African American to serve on the Los Angeles City Council, a seat he held until 1974 when he became a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. He was the first African American chairman of the Democratic County Central Committee, winning over fellow Councilman Tom Bradley by just three votes. Pictured at the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner are Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally (left) and Councilman Billy Mills (right) who is shaking hands with athlete/actor/activist Jim Brown (center). This annual fundraiser takes place to benefit the California Democratic State Central Committee. The event was held on March 10, 1968 at the Century Plaza Hotel. See images 00125412; 00128528 through 00128536; and 00143556 through 00143572 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Dymally, Mervyn M.,--1926-2012 Brown, Jim,--1936-2023 Mills, Billy G Century Plaza Hotel (Century City, Los Angeles, Calif.) Democratic Party (Calif.) African American men Men African American politicians Politicians City council members Legislators Actors Football players Athletes Political participation Political activists Political parties Fund raising Tuxedos Hotels Handshaking Century City (Los Angeles, Calif.)
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