Congressman Charles C. Diggs with six former presidents of the Los Angeles Chapter of the NAACP, Los Angeles, 1950s-1960s

Item Overview

Title

Congressman Charles C. Diggs with six former presidents of the Los Angeles Chapter of the NAACP, Los Angeles, 1950s-1960s

Alternative title

John Somerville as candidate for L.A. City Council and founding member of NAACP

Date Created

[1950s-1960s]

Date

1950/1970

Collection

Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections

Notes

Description

Photograph appears with the article, "Rep. Diggs reiterates vow to challenge Miss. seats," Los Angeles Sentinel, 1 Dec. 1955: A1.
Charles Coles Diggs Jr. was the first African-American elected to Congress in Michigan. He was an early member of the civil rights movement. He attended the trial of Emmett Till's murderers, and was elected the first chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Thomas G. Neusom was an attorney and civic leader. He was a president of the Los Angeles and Michigan state bars. He was a senior member of the Southern California Rapid Transit District board of directors, and served as its president for three terms.
J. H. Shackelford was a prominent civic leader in Los Angeles. A businessman and real estate broker, he served a president of the local NAACP
Thomas L. Griffith Jr. was a Superior Court judge who was the first black ever elected in a Los Angeles countywide vote and the first black attorney ever admitted to the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
Text from newspaper caption: Felicitated at Saturday banquet at St. Paul Baptist church were past presidents of local NAACP Sharing honors were, from left (standing); J. H. Shackelford, Dr. J. A. Somerville, first executive officer (1913-1922) of 42-year-old branch; Municipal Judge Thomas L. Griffith, Dr. H. Claude Hudson, and Dr. E. I. Robinson. Guest speaker, Cong. Charles C. Diggs (Dem. Mich.) is pictured (seated, left) beside lifelong friend, Atty. Thomas G. Neusome, local NAACP president. --- Sentinel photo by Cliff Hall. The S. Paul Baptist Church was located at 52nd and Main St.
H. Claude Hudson was a dentist, lawyer, and businessman. President of the Los Angeles branch of the NAACP and served in that capacity for 10 years. He also founded Broadway Federal Savings and Loan.
E. I. (Emery Irvin) Robinson graduated from Meharry Medical College and set up practice in Atlanta. In 1934, he moved to Los Angeles and practiced at California Lutheran Hospital. He was a civic leader and served two terms as president of the NAACP.
Dr. John Somerville, born in Jamaica, was the first black graduate of USC School of Dentistry (1907). He married Vada Jetmore Watson (1912), who also became a dentist. He built the Somerville Hotel (1928), was instrumental in the founding of the Los Angeles chapter of NAACP (1914), and served on the Police Commission 1949-1953

Caption

E. I. (Emery Irvin) Robinson graduated from Meharry Medical College and set up practice in Atlanta. In 1934, he moved to Los Angeles and practiced at California Lutheran Hospital. He was a civic leader and served two terms as president of the NAACP.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph

Keywords

Genre

photographs

Names

St. Paul Baptist Church (Los Angeles, Calif.) corpname local
Somerville, John Alexander, 1881-1973
Hudson, H. Claude (Henry Claude), 1886-1989
Diggs, Charles C.
Griffith, Thomas L. , Jr.
Robinson, E. I. (Emery Irvin), 1889-1961
Shackelford, J. H., 1875-1972
Neusom, Thomas G. (Thomas George), 1922-1983

Subject Geographic

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Longitude

33.995573

Latitude

-118.273971

Resource type

still image

Subjects

African American civic leaders
African American politicians
African American lawyers
African American physicians
African American civil rights workers