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.; In 1966, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (1932-) became the first African American woman elected to the California Assembly, and in 1972, was the first woman elected to the House. She was also the first woman to chair the Congressional Black Caucus. In 1972, she became the first Congresswoman to give birth and be granted maternity leave while serving Congress. Pictured from left to right are: California State Assembly Member Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, Ethel Bradley (wife of Councilman Tom Bradley, not pictured), Judge Vincent S. Dalsimer, and Gloria Curtis (wife of photographer Rolland Curtis, not pictured). They can be seen posing in front of a painting at Los Angeles City Hall. Photograph circa 1967. See images 00125503, and 00139981 through 00139984 for additional photos in this series.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 10 x 13 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Burke, Yvonne Brathwaite Bradley, Ethel Dalsimer, Vincent S Curtis, Gloria Los Angeles City Hall (Los Angeles, Calif.) African American women Women Men African American politicians Women in politics Politicians Judges City halls Picture frames Painting Wives Posing Smiling Downtown Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Calif.)
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