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. Louis Brown Johnson (at podium), outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers is shown speaking in city council chambers at City Hall. Johnson, nicknamed "Sweet Lou," received a resolution congratulating him for being named the "Cinderella Player" for 1965 by the Dodgers. Standing around the ball player are Councilmember Tom Bradley (at right), Dodger Vice President Fresco Thompson (partially visible, second on the left) and two unidentified men. The event took place on November 18, 1965. See images 00118784 and 00139529 through 00139543 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print : b&w ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic prints
Bradley, Tom,--1917-1998 Thompson, Fresco,--1902-1968 Johnson, Louis Brown,--1934-2020 Los Angeles City Hall (Los Angeles, Calif.) Los Angeles Dodgers (Baseball team) African American men Men City council members City halls Baseball--Management Baseball players Baseball teams Resolutions Podiums Smiling Microphones Los Angeles (Calif.)
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