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Title
Baldwin Hills Dam disaster
Alternative Title
Los Angeles Photographers Photo Collection;
Creator
Curtis, Rolland J
Contributor
Made accessible through a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation
Date Created and/or Issued
1963
Contributing Institution
Los Angeles Public Library
Collection
Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
Rights Information
Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html for additional information.
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Description
Title supplied by cataloger.
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 for 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.; On December 14, 1963 at 3:38 P.M., the dam containing the Baldwin Hills Reservoir ruptured and released a 50-foot wave of water that flooded the area between Jefferson and La Cienega Boulevards and La Brea Avenue, including the Village Green community. Nearly 300 million gallons of water gushed down the hillside for 77 minutes causing the death of five people and 10 million dollars worth of property damage. The crack in the dam was ultimately attributed to a faultline beneath the reservoir and subsidence caused by overexploitation of the Inglewood oil field.
Councilman Tom Bradley (left) and County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn stand in front of the Discount Food Store, located at 5071 Rodeo Road, after the Baldwin Hills Dam disaster. The dam failure on December 14, 1963 caused the Baldwin Hills Reservoir to flood the area between Jefferson and La Cienega Boulevards and La Brea Avenue. Photograph dated 1963. See images 00119781 through 00119785; 00120134 through 00120158; and 00138682 through 00138685 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm.
Photographic safety negatives
Identifier
00120138
Rolland J. Curtis Collection
RC_0081.10
http://173.196.26.125/cdm/ref/collection/photos/id/136513
Subject
Bradley, Tom,--1917-1998
Hahn, Kenneth
Discount Food Store (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Los Angeles County (Calif.)--Board of Supervisors
Dam failures
Dams
Floods
Flood damage
Reservoirs
Disasters
Mud
Legislators
City council members
Politicians
African American politicians
African American men
Men
Automobiles
Trailers
Stores & shops
Grocery stores
Supermarkets
Rodeo Road (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Baldwin Hills Dam (Calif.)
Baldwin Hills Reservoir (Calif.)
Baldwin Hills (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Time Period
1960-1969
Source
Curtis, Gloria

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