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1. 1 2013-10-20T21:43:41-07:00 Phil Ethington e37d40405599cccc3b6330e6c4be064cc03ef7a5 Photographs Phil Ethington 1 Inventory Path plain 2013-10-20T21:43:41-07:00 Phil Ethington e37d40405599cccc3b6330e6c4be064cc03ef7a5

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• 1 2013-08-11T14:07:29-07:00 Walter Gordon's Photographic Tour of African American Los Angeles, 1920s-1960s 15 Photographic Narrative plain 2013-09-20T22:22:49-07:00 Born in Santa Monica on 22 June 1908, Walter Gordon Jr. was the son of a real estate agent and investor, Walter Gordon, Senior , who maintained an office on the prominent corner of Central Ave and Adams Blvd in the 1920s. The older black elite tended to settle westward along Adams, eventually crossing the supposed race line of Main to establish a colony known as “Sugar Hill” on Adams near Arlington. Chester Himes’s character, Robert "Bob" Jones, pillories this set in his 1945 novel, If He Hollers Let Him Go. Walter Jr. attended law school and in 1937 he opened his law practice in the front office of the California Eagle, edited by the Garveyite Charlotta Bass. While Bass stirred-up a vibrant public sphere, reporting on bad cops and good Race Men, leading the “Don’t Shop Where You Can’t Work” campaign, Walter was not only writing for and helping with the Eagle, he was developing a clientele that put him at the center of action for decades. Specializing in entertainment and civil rights cases, Gordon represented Billie Holliday in 1953, when she was accused of slashing a white customer who catcalled her while she sang her trademark anthem, Abel Meeropol’s anti-lynching sorrow song, Strange Fruit. Central Avenue was home to perhaps 60,000 African Americans in the 1930s, but it was a very small place, with a single “center,” at Central and 42nd. Place, the Dunbar Hotel. Word traveled quickly, as through a small town, and Gordon was just one among many who kept their ears tuned to the frequency of the Avenue. Walter Gordon collected photographs, mostly from and annotated them as he knew that society. Here, in his own words, is Walter Gordon's visual tour of Central Avenue society, political and cultural: #8 Real Estate Office, 1923 Two customers visit the real estate office of Walter L. Gordon, Sr. (father of attorney Walter Gordon), at Adams Boulevard and Central Avenue in 1923. E. J. Porter sits in the foreground, followed by Ed Reese. Gordon is at the desk in back. #6 The Jockey Club A festive time at the Jockey Club on Central Avenue finds a group sampling the work of chef/owner Ralph Gibbs. From left to right, actress Dorothy Dandridge; pianist Hattie Hopgood; Earl “Red” Griffith; entertainer/reporter Maggie Hathaway; an unidentified woman; Gibbs; and newspaper reporter Paul McGee. #7 Power Ladies Some “power ladies” in the local African-American community gather for a meeting in the 1940s. Seated at left is Betty Hill, a social activist and founder of the Women’s Political Study club. Next to her is Dr. Vada Sommerville, the first Black female graduate of USC’s School of Dentistry and a founding member of the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP. Standing in the back, third from left, is the social and labor activist Jessie Lee Terry. Next to her is Martha Jefferson, the first Black female attorney to practice law here. #10 Black Attorneys for Republican Goodwin Knight, 1952 Ivan Johnson, the first Black member of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles, stands in support of Goodwin Knight (seated at center), governor of California from 1953–1959. To the left of Knight is accountant B. B. Bratton. At far right is Vincent Monroe Townsend, an attorney and veteran actor who played the judge on Amos and Andy. #14 Charlotta Bass and Walter Gordon Charlotta Bass, the owner and editor of the pioneering Black community newspaper The California Eagle, receives a congratulatory proclamation on August 27, 1949, from her former paperboy, attorney Walter Lear Gordon, Jr.  Upon Gordon’s graduation from law school, Bass invited him to set up his practice in the front portion of the Eagle’s building on Central Avenue, where this photograph was taken. #18  Bessie Bruington Burke Teachers gather at a backyard party held by Bessie Bruington Burke in the early 1950s. Burke was the first Black teacher and principal in Los Angeles. Her mother secured support for her daughter’s professional aspirations from the Forum, an African-American civic organization headquartered at the corner of Eighth and Wall Streets. Burke broke through the prevailing color barrier thanks to a combination of the Forum’s considerable influence and her own impeccable academic qualifications. #24  Ethel Sissle and the Red Cross Ethel Sissle, former wife of songwriter Noble Sissle, drives a Red Cross vehicle with army personnel shortly after World War II. Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake created and directed Shuffle Along, the first Black production on Broadway. #26  Trumpeter Valaida Snow Valaida Snow, on the left in the front row, sits with friends at Wrigley Field, a baseball stadium formerly located at Avalon Boulevard and 42nd Street in Los Angeles. A remarkable trumpet player, Snow was captured by the Nazis in 1941 while entertaining in Copenhagen. Although threatened with execution during her eighteen months in incarceration, her life may have been spared due to her musical talent. This photograph is probably from the late 1940s, some time after her release. Behind her sits Honey Murphy, owner of the Last Chance Restaurant and Club situated at 108th Street and Central Avenue. #30  Claude Hudson and Henry Wallace Dr. H. Claude Hudson, a dentist, founder of Broadway Savings and Loan, and president of the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP, listens to a speech by Henry Wallace, the former vice president (1941–1945) and Progressive Party candidate for president in 1948. #33  Rev. Clayton Powell Reverend Clayton Donovan Russell addresses an audience at the Peoples’ Independent Church of Christ at 18th and Paloma Streets in the early 1940s. Russell, who grew up in Boyle Heights and graduated from USC, embodied the church’s influence in the Los Angeles Black community. He began preaching at the age of seven, soon catching the attention of Reverend N. P. Greggs of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. Greggs left First AME in 1915 to found the Peoples’ Church and took Russell with him. When Russell succeeded Greggs as pastor in 1935 he revitalized the church’s influence by introducing radio broadcasts of his sermons, joining the Sentinel’s Leon Washington in the “Don’t shop where you can’t work” movement, creating innovative community work programs during the Depression, and organizing the Los Angeles Negro Victory Committee to aid the cause in World War II. Russell’s progressive views earned him a loyal following until his death in 1981. #34  The Club Alabam in Full Swing An audience takes in a show at the Club Alabam at the height of its popularity in the 1940s. Some of the notable attendees include, from left to right: Tillie Euliss (wearing a mink coat), who was a popular waitress at the Dunbar Hotel; Clarence Moore, owner of the Mimo Club at 29th Street and Western Avenue; actress Lillian Randolph; Elihue “Black Dot” McGee, a well-known Central Avenue figure; Club Alabam singer Juliett Ball; and with his hand on his chin, Prince Spencer—one of the fill-ins for the Nicholas Brothers and later, a keno operator at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas. #38 Dunbar Hotel Cocktail Lounge Dr. John Sommerville and his wife, Vada Watson, the first African-Americans to graduate from the USC School of Dentistry, opened the Dunbar Hotel in 1928. Located at 4225 S. Central Avenue, the establishment and its adjacent nightclub quickly became the focus of the area’s music scene. The manager of the hotel’s cocktail lounge may be seen in this photomontage from the 1940s. #39 Entertainment Celebrities Entertainment celebrities pose at a home party in the early to mid-1940s. Standing from left to right are: Jennie S. Bruington, mother of Bessie Bruington Burke; actor Ben Carter, who played Ben Shadrack in Green Pastures; Jack Chase, a popular local prize fighter married to the woman standing next to him, actress Lillian Randolph; actress Hattie McDaniel, winner of an Academy Award for Gone With The Wind (1939); C. W. Hill; tenor George Garner, who led the Southernaires; his wife; and finally, Lillian Cumber, the first Black entertainment agent in Southern California. Seated, from left to right are: Herman Spurlock, who was a colorful sportsman; actress Lillian Beavers; and society figure Naomi Green, pictured next to her husband Eddie Green, star of the long-running play Duffy’s Tavern. #42 Central Ave. Journalists with Walter Winchell A group of journalists gather to discuss their work. Pictured from left to right are Joe Harris, author of the “Smoke Rings” column in the Los Angeles Sentinel; Walter Winchell, a nationally syndicated radio personality; Joe Adams, the first Black radio announcer in Los Angeles and manager of singer Ray Charles; and Leon Washington, founder of the Sentinel, which grew under his stewardship from a throwaway sheet to one of the leading African-American newspapers in the country. Washington began a desegregation effort on Central Avenue in the early 1930s, called “Don’t shop where you can’t work.” #43 Maceo Sheffield Maceo Sheffield, seen here in the late 1930s, was one of the most colorful personalities in the African-American community that encompassed Central Avenue in the first half of the twentieth century. He was a veritable renaissance man whose resume included actor, producer, pilot, police officer, and photographer (with a few of his snapshots making their way into Walter Gordon’s collection). #51  Billy Holliday Defiant and Victorious Billie Holliday leaves Los Angeles Superior Court after the dismissal of the criminal case against her (see below). #22  Billy Holliday On Trial Billie Holiday stands with LAPD Detective Gosline in front of a courtroom while awaiting trial in the early 1950s. Holiday was singing “Strange Fruit” (a song about the lynching of African-Americans) in a West Hollywood club, when a member of the audience proceeded to heckle her. She left the stage midway through the song, allegedly slashed the heckler with a knife, and resumed singing. She was charged with assault and battery but the case was dismissed when the victim, under cross-examination by Walter Gordon, refused to give his name and address. #59  Billy Holliday's Manager with Walter Gordon John Levy (left) and Walter Gordon stand in the court hallway before Billie Holiday’s criminal assault trial. Levy was Holliday’s manager and boyfriend for much of her turbulent career. #47  Billy Holliday with her Attorney Walter Gordon Billie Holliday poses with her attorney Walter Gordon in Los Angeles Superior court. Holliday was sued for more than one million dollars damage by a man claiming intellectual property theft of a song. Gordon fought and won the case for her. #50  Billy Holliday's Thank-You Note Billie Holliday sent Walter Gordon this autographed photo upon the successful resolution of her intellectual property court case. #57  Billy Holliday with Walter Gordon Walter Gordon and Billie Holliday seen soon after the successful outcome of her intellectual property court case. #52  LAPD's Integrated Baseball Team, with Future Mayor Tom Bradley The Saints, LAPD Newton Division’s baseball team, pose for a team photograph around 1945. Kneeling on the left are Sgts. Bob Green and Kinney Harris. Standing in back, third from left, is the former three-term mayor of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley. Third from right is Thomas “Red” Davis. Although they could be teammates in baseball, Black and White officers were not allowed to patrol together until 1961. #53  LA's and Chicago's Black Politicos A group of prominent politicians and community leaders meet at the Southern Pacific train station at 5th Street and Central Avenue in the late 1930s. Seen here, from left to right: Assemblyman Augustus Hawkins; Titus Alexander, a leading member of the Forum; Congressman Arthur Mitchell of Chicago and his wife; USC Law School graduate Bert McDonald, who was a member of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office and the half-brother of Dunbar Hotel founder Vada Sommerville; and longtime local attorney Hugh Macbeth, who provided legal counsel for the Forum in the early twentieth century and promoted Black resorts like Val Verde and “Little Liberia”—a retreat in Baja California that operated from the 1920s through the 1940s. #54 Satchmo and Friends Louis Armstrong (center) celebrates with friends at Lovejoy’s, an after-hours club located at 42nd and Central Avenue, across the street from the Club Alabam where he had performed earlier in the evening. The proprietor of the establishment, Alex Lovejoy, is seated second from the left. #55  Gentlemen of Influence Four distinguished men of the community pose for a photograph sometime in the late 1930s–early 1940s. From left to right are Norman Houston of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company; boxing champion Joe Louis; attorney Charles Matthews, who worked for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office; and Fred Roberts, who in 1918, became the first African-American elected to the State Assembly. #60  Curtis Caville Taylor and the African American Power Elite Veteran attorney Curtis Caville Taylor (center, facing viewer) celebrates a birthday party in the mid-1950s with friends and colleagues. Taylor, who came to Los Angeles around 1915, was admired in the Black community for his affable nature as well as his deep roots in the city. The event was held in the Benedict Canyon home of retired Superior Court Judge Earl Broady, who employed clever subterfuge to buy a place in an area where Black people were not yet welcome. To see the inside of the house, Broady’s wife Maude posed as the maid of Jack Tenner, a white attorney. Tenner purchased the property and promptly transferred title to the Broadys. In the foreground with her back to the camera is current Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, with Walter Gordon standing to her right.