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 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.; Rosalind (Roz) Wiener Wyman (b. 1930-) was the youngest person (and only the second woman) ever elected to the Los Angeles City Council and one of the youngest elected officials of a major U.S. city, as well as the first Jewish Council member in 53 years. Wyman graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1948 and attended the University of Southern California where she received a B.S. in Public Administration in 1952. She became politically active in college, launched her successful campaign for the City Council seat and was elected in 1953 when she was just 22. During her first Council term in 1954 she married attorney Eugene Wyman, a graduate of Northwestern University and Harvard Law School - a fellow Democratic activist, who founded a large entertainment law firm in Los Angeles. While on the city council, Rosalind Wyman was the first female acting mayor, and she played a pivotal role in bringing the Dodgers baseball team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1957. Unfortunately, controversies over that arrangement contributed to Wyman's defeat for a fourth term in 1965. After leaving office, and in the sad aftermath of her husband's unexpected death in 1973, Wyman continued her involvement in political and public affairs, her influence extending beyond California to the national Democratic Party. During the 1974 congressional campaigns, she became the first woman to head a major party's fund-raising efforts. She served as Convention Chair and chief executive officer of the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, the first woman of either major Party to wield the gavel at a presidential nominating convention. Wyman has been a delegate to every Democratic National Convention since 1952 (except one), last attending the historic 2008 Convention which nominated Barack Obama. Wyman's national appointments include the UNESCO Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. She has been a leader of the Los Angeles Jewish community, has received many Jewish community awards, chaired fund-raising events, and served on the board of American Friends of the Hebrew University. Wyman has also been a board member of many arts, social services, educational and health organizations, and has received numerous awards, locally and nationally.; Born on July 4, 1902 in Seattle, Washington, Brice Union Taylor was an athlete who broke racial barriers for African American football players. Brice Taylor is perhaps best known as the University of Southern California’s first All-American football player. A descendant of the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh and African slaves, he was the youngest of ten children of Cyrus Taylor, a bricklayer. Orphaned at age 5, Taylor was taken in and raised by the DiJulio family of Seattle. Although he was born without a left hand, Taylor showed his athletic prowess while growing up in Seattle, Washington where he was a starring athlete in football and baseball. In 1922, Taylor was a running back for the Franklin High School football team in Seattle. As Team Captain, he helped lead the team to the Washington State Championship. In 1923, Taylor was selected as the State of Washington High School Athlete of the year. Taylor was offered scholarships from 17 east coast universities and eight Pacific Coast universities. He hoped to attend college at the University of Washington, but was not offered a scholarship. In 1923, Taylor accepted the scholarship offered to him by “Gloomy” Gus Henderson, the head football coach at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los, Angeles. He moved from from the running back position to offensive guard and became one of the first African American football players at USC. Taylor also ran one season of track while at USC. He competed in the 100-meter sprint and was a member of the USC mile relay team that set a World Record in 1925. During the 1925 season, Taylor, the only American member of the USC football team, set a school record by playing offense, defense, and on special teams as a kicker. For his efforts, Taylor became the first All-American at USC in 1925. After graduating from USC, Taylor became the Head Football Coach and Athletic Director at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 1931, Taylor led Southern to its first undefeated season in his final season as Southern’s Head Football Coach. Prior to leaving Southern, Taylor put a small college from Northern Louisiana on Southern’s 1932 football schedule, known at the time as the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute and now known as Grambling State University. The game between the two Louisiana institutions would become known as the “Bayou Classic.” After leaving Southern University, Taylor returned to Los Angeles and began coaching and teaching at Jefferson High School, becoming the first African American high school head football coach in Los Angeles. In addition to coaching football and teaching, Taylor also received a doctorate in theology, serving over 40 years as a minister in the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. Bryce Union Taylor passed away on September 18, 1974 in Downey, California. He was survived by his wife, his three children, and two grandchildren. Former Councilwoman Rosalind Wiener Wyman is pictured with former USC football player and All-American Brice Union Taylor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church during a campaign event for her bid to be elected to the Community College Board of Trustees. Photograph circa 1971. See images 00128015; 00128427; 00128581 through 00128585, and 00143407 through 00143420 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Wyman, Rosalind Wiener Taylor, Brice Union African American men Men Women Women in community organization Education--Political aspects Campaign management Civic leaders Clergy Smiling Posing Los Angeles (Calif.)
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
