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.; 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. Councilmember Billy Mills stands behind a podium, giving an impassioned speech during a Southern Christian Leadership Operation Breadbasket Meeting at the First A.M.E. Church. A portrait of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. is propped up against the front of the podium, and several unidentified men and women can be seen sitting behind the Councilman. Photograph circa 1968. See images 00053401; 00125417 through 00125421; 00134120, and 00139849 through 00139869 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Mills, Billy G King, Martin Luther,--Jr.,--1929-1968--Portraits First A.M.E. Church (Los Angeles, Calif.) Operation Breadbasket African American men Men African American women Women African American politicians Politicians City council members Church buildings Churches Food relief Associations, institutions, etc Speeches, addresses, etc Public speaking Audiences Podiums Microphones Flags Los Angeles (Calif.)
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