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.; Elected in 1963, Billy G. Mills (1929-) was the third African American to serve on the Los Angeles City Council, a seat he held until 1974 when he became a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. He was the first African American chairman of the Democratic County Central Committee, winning over fellow Councilman Tom Bradley by just three votes. Pictured (left to right) are Los Angeles Rams football player Eddie Meador, head coach George Allen, quarterback Roman Gabriel, an unidentified man affiliated with the team, and City Councilman Billy Mills. The football team received a resolution presented by City Councilman Mills. Photograph dated February 16, 1968. See images 00119167, 00119168; 00119172 through 00119178, and 00137982 through 00137984 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Mills, Billy G Allen, George,--1918-1990 Gabriel, Roman,--1940- Meador, Eddie,--1937- Los Angeles Rams (Football team : 1946-1994) Los Angeles City Hall (Los Angeles, Calif.) Resolutions City council members Legislators--United States African American politicians African American men Football coaches Football players Football teams Men Los Angeles (Calif.)
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