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.; 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. Rev. Kilgore combined spirituality and community work, believing that serving God and serving your community were intertwined. Reverends Thomas Kilgore (left foreground) and H.H. Brookins (right foreground) carry signs that read, "The people demand representation!" and "Let the poor speak for themselves" as they walk along Spring Street outside of Los Angeles City Hall. They are protesting the election of the board to oversee Anti-Poverty funds. Many of the protesters seen marching behind them carried signs, some of which read, "Poverty or Politics"; "No Rpresentation [sic] is Tyranny"; "Must ? 1/2 Million Suffer?" and "No Representation is Discrimination." The Los Angeles Times Building can be seen in the background (center left, with clock) and the State Building is visible on the right. Photograph dated July 12-13, 1965. See images 00128017; 00134109; 00134151; 00134153, and 00144893 through 00144900 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print : b&w ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic prints
Kilgore, Thomas,--1913-1998 Brookins, H. Hartford Los Angeles City Hall (Los Angeles, Calif.) Los Angeles Times (Firm) Los Angeles Times Building California State Building (Los Angeles, Calif.) African American men Men African American women Women Clergy Protest movements Demonstrations Picketing Signs and signboards City halls Newspaper buildings Buildings Lost architecture Sidewalks Streets Lampposts Trees Los Angeles (Calif.)
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