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.; The Bank of Finance was the first African American organized bank in California. Opened in 1964, it catered to small businesses in the community. During its time, it nursed local businesses to fruition and provided financial assistance for necessary community resources like medical centers, day care, and homes for the elderly. Members of the organizing committee included Dr. Edward H. Ballard, Dr. Perry W. Beal, Wilton A. Clarke, Onie B. Granville, Mrs. Bernice M. Malbrue, Tom Bradley and Lorenzo V. Spencer. The bank building at 2651 S. Western Avenue, and a branch opened at 8420 S. Vermont in 1968 have both since been demolished.; Rev. Thomas Kilgore, Jr. (1913-1998) was the first African American to become president of the American Baptist Churches, during a time when the African Americans only made up 20% of the members. He was a friend to Martin Luther King, Jr., and helped organize the 1963 March on Washington. He was a senior pastor at Second Baptist Church from 1963-1985, the oldest African American Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Kilgore combined spirituality and community work, believing that serving God and serving your community were intertwined.; 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. Photograph depicts bank members and guests present for an unidentified Bank of Finance event. Pictured in the front row from left to right are: Branch Manager Edward E. Tillman, cashier Bong Namkoong, Charles Walker, committee member and Chairman of the Board Edward H. Ballard, Councilmember Gilbert Lindsay, Assistant Branch Manager Larry E. Grant, Dr. Claude Hudson, Vice President J. David Duncan and committee member and Bank of Finance Organizer Dr. Perry Beal. From the back row, left to right are: Rev. Thomas Kilgore peeking out from behind Namkoong, an unidentified man, Dr. Ross Miller, an unidentified man, Board Member Dr. Leroy Weeks, committee member and Founder Onie B. Granville and Board Member Stewart Jones. Photograph is circa 1968. See images 00120190; 00120200 through 00120209; 00121696; 00121697; 00125591 through 00125593; 00125597 through 00125600; 00138691 and 00138692 for additional photos in this series.
Type
Image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Lindsay, Gilbert Kilgore, Thomas,--1913-1998 Bank of Finance (Los Angeles, Calif.) Bank of Finance (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Employees Lost architecture Savings and loan associations Banks and banking Bank buildings Bank employees Bankers City council members African American politicians Clergy Civil rights workers Management Committees Asian American men African American men Men Boutonnieres Los Angeles (Calif.)
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