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. City Council member Gilbert Lindsay holds a proclamation for and poses with the Roosevelt High School basketball team.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w;10x13 cm. Photographic prints
Lindsay, Gilbert Theodore Roosevelt High School (Los Angeles, Calif.) Proclamations Basketball players--California--Los Angeles City council members--California--Los Angeles High school students--California--Los Angeles Boyle Heights (Los Angeles, Calif.) Group portraits Portrait photographs
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