Title supplied by cataloger. Rolland Joseph 'Speedy' Curtis was born in Louisiana in 1922. After serving in the Marines during World War II, he and his wife, Gloria, relocated from New Orleans to Los Angeles in 1946. Curtis served for four years with the Los Angeles Police Department, but resigned from the force in order to pursue both a Bachelor's and a 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. Barbara Bennett, a ninth grade student at Charles Drew Junior High School, delivers her award winning speech on the life and works of Mary McLeod Bethune in the City Hall Council Chambers. Bennett's speech won first place in a contest commemorating the renaming of Slauson Park to Bethune Park. Several children can be seen sitting in the background at left, and adults sit at right. The event occurred on on April 7, 1964. See images 00118765 through 00118768 for all photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Los Angeles City Hall (Los Angeles, Calif.) Charles Drew Junior High School (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Students African American teenagers Teenagers African American young women Young women African American girls Girls Middle school students Teenage girls Women City Halls Public speaking Award winners Podiums Microphones Audiences Los Angeles (Calif.)
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