Title supplied by cataloger. Rolland Joseph 'Speedy' Curtis was born in Louisiana in 1922. After serving 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 a 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.; Gilbert Lindsay (1900-1990) was born on a cotton plantation in Mississippi where he later picked cotton for 50 cents a day. In 1928, he moved to Los Angeles and became a janitor for the Department of water & Power. By 1963, at the age of 62, Lindsay became the first African American to join the City Council. Appointed to fill a vacancy, he was reelected consistently until his death in 1990.; 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. White Front Vice President and General Manager Harry Epstein can be seen cutting the ribbon at the grand opening of the White Front store, located at 7651 South Central Avenue. Pictured with him, from left to right, are Councilman Gilbert Lindsay, comedian Bill Cosby (partially visible behind Lindsay), Los Angeles Sentinel Business Manager Ruth Washington, Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, Harry Epstein (at center with shears), an unidentified man (in glasses) behind Epstein, actress Carole Cole, actor Rick Jason (behind Cole), Councilman Billy Mills, and two unidentified men at right. The event occurred on March 30, 1967. See images 00053398; 000118760; and 00139487 through 00139497 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Lindsay, Gilbert Cosby, Bill,--1937- Washington, Ruth Hahn, Kenneth Epstein, Harry Cole, Carol Jason, Rick Mills, Billy G White Front (Firm) Los Angeles Sentinel--Employees African American men Men African American women Women African American politicians Politicians African American comedians Comedians African American actors Actors African American actresses Actresses Television actors and actresses County officials and employees City council members County council members Businesspeople Executives Newspaper employees Discount houses (Retail trade) Department stores Stores & shops Dedications Scissors and shears Posing Smiling Los Angeles (Calif.)
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