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. Byron Rumford (right) and two unidentified women stand in front of a burned-down storefront at the southwest corner of Central Avenue and Vernon Avenue. The building, which bore the address of 4401 and 4403 South Central Avenue, housed the businesses of Central-Vernon Liquor & Delicatessen, Evans J E-Photo, and Robinsons Jewelry. The structure sustained severe fire damage during the 1965 Watts uprisings and was demolished by the end of the year. Photograph dated 1965.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print : b&w ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic prints
Rumford, William Byron,--1908-1986 African American men Men African American women Women Business districts Buildings Stores & shops Storefronts Shop signs Automobiles Street lights Street signs Streets Electric lines--Poles and towers Fires Debris Pointing (Gesture) Watts (Los Angeles, Calif.)
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