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Image / Mobil Service Station on Arlington Avenue

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Title
Mobil Service Station on Arlington Avenue
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
Circa 1969
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 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.
An unidentified station attendant (at right) assists a truck driver by making his windows spotless at the Mobil Service Station located at 2121 S. Arlington Avenue. The words "J Sims" can be seen on the door of the truck, which might stand for the truck driver's name. Photograph circa 1969. See images 00121987 through 00121990; 00122001, 00122002; 00122016, and 00139923 through 00139952 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm.
Photographic safety negatives
Identifier
00139930
Rolland J. Curtis Collection
RC_262.15
http://cdm16703.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/photos/id/138207
Subject
Mobil Oil Corporation--Employees
Mobil Oil Corporation
White Motor Corporation
African American men
Men
Truck drivers
Employees
Corporations
Service stations
Gasoline supply
Gasoline
Oil industries
Trucking
Trucks
Automobiles--Windows and windshields
Windows
Los Angeles (Calif.)
Time Period
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
Source
Curtis, Gloria

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