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. Wallace Braden was the general a manager of the Los Angeles County employees association. He ran for Congress in 1948. Dr. John A. Somerville, John Anson Ford, Robert Z. Hardon, Thomas Newton and Wallace Brade standing in front of a striped fabric panel, possibly part of a large American flag. Robert Z. Hardon was the Superintendent of Building Services for Los Angeles County. John Anson Ford was an American journalist, advertising executive and Democratic Party politician. He was a long-serving member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Photographer's identification on photo: LA County Photo / A. Ellis Smith
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b14_f10_017a.tif ark:/21198/z1r22jfm
Subject
African American politicians African American businesspeople African American dentists African American civil rights workers Ford, John Anson, Somerville, John Alexander, 1881-1973 Hardon, Robert Z., 1901-1988 Braden, Wallace, 1899-1985 Newton, Thomas
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