Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations. Kenneth Hahn (1920–1997) was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for forty years, from 1952 to 1992. Hahn was on the Los Angeles City Council from 1947 to 1952. He was an ardent supporter of civil rights throughout the 1960s, and met Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1961. Henry W. Davis was born in Montgomery, Alabama and came to Los Angeles at an early age. He served as a member of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission for 19 years, and as an officer of the Elks for ten years. Supervisor Kenneth Hahn (2nd from left) stands with County Commissioners reappointed to new terms, Henry W. Davis (3rd from left) and Dr. Vada Somerville (4th from left), Human Relations Commissioners, and Wesley R. Brazier (right), member of the L. A. County Probation Committee. The woman on the left is unidentified. Wesley R. Brazier began his career as a social worker. He was the Director of the Los Angeles Urban League, retiring in 1968. Reported in the Los Angeles Sentinel, "Reappoint Commissioners," 29 Aug. 1963: A20. Stamp on back of photo: From Supervisor Kenneth Hahn
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image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b14_f10_049a.tif ark:/21198/z1m34ctb
Subject
African American civil rights workers African American dentists City council members Davis, Henry W., 1882-1978 Los Angeles County (Calif.). Board of Supervisors Hahn, Kenneth Somerville, Vada, 1885-1972 Brazier, Wesley R. (Wesley Robert), 1917-1991
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