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Image / Dr. John A. Somerville at a meeting of the Circus Saints and …

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Title
Dr. John A. Somerville at a meeting of the Circus Saints and Sinners Club, 1950s-1960s
Alternative Title
Somerville community activities (1)
Date Created and/or Issued
[1950s-1960s]
1950/1970
Contributing Institution
UCLA, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library
Collection
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
Rights Information
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Description
The Circus Saints and Sinners Club of America is a national organization that raises money for local charities.
Dr. John Somerville, born in Jamaica, was the first black graduate of USC School of Dentistry (1907). He married Vada Jetmore Watson (1912), who also became a dentist. He built the Somerville Hotel (1928), was instrumental in the founding of the Los Angeles chapter of NAACP (1914), and served on the Police Commission 1949-1953.
Group portrait with Dr. John A. Somerville (standing, 6th from left), at a meeting of the Circus Saints and Sinners Club. In the very front are two men dressed as a clown and a policeman.
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b14_f10_022a.tif
ark:/21198/z1378ss3
Subject
African American civil rights workers
African American businesspeople
African American dentists
Circus Saints & Sinners Club of America
Somerville, John Alexander, 1881-1973
Source
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

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