Well-dressed group dining out, Los Angeles, 1940s

Item Overview

Title

Well-dressed group dining out, Los Angeles, 1940s

Date Created

[1940s?]

Date

1940/1949

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

Walter L. Gordon, Jr./William C. Beverly, Jr. Collection

Notes

Summary

Norman O. Houston helped William Nickerson, Jr. to found the Golden State Mutual Life Insruance Company in1925, and became president in 1945. At one point, Golden State Mutual Life Insurance was the largest black-owned business west of the Mississippi. He expanded the activities of the company over the next 25 years. In 1970 his two sons, Norman B. Houston and Ivan J. Houston, took over active management of the company. He was also first African American to be appointed to the California State Athletic Commission and later served as chairman.
Eddie Atkinson (J. Edward) was a market developer for the Carnation company. He was the first African American to run for Los Angeles City Council, losing by only 1,000.
Mitchell Miles was a wealthy man from Buffalo, NY. He and his brother ran a gambling business, but they were pushed out of Buffalo by the mob. They eventually moved to Los Angeles.
Floyd Snelson was a newspaper man.

Description

Seated on left side of table, L to R: Mabel Miles (1st), Edythe Houston (2nd). Seated of right side of table, L to R: Norman O. Houston (1st), Mitchel Miles (2nd). Standing at the far end of the talbe: Floyd Snelson. Standing in the back: Eddie Atkinson (4th from L).
All information concerning the content and description of the image was provided by Walter Gordon.

Keywords

Genre

Black-and-white photographs

Names

Atkinson, Eddie, 1912-1988
Miles, Mabel
Snelson, Floyd
Miles, Mitchell Bruce, 1903-1997
Houston, Edythe A. (Edythe Adelaide), 1904-1995
Houston, Norman O., 1893-1981

Location

California--Los Angeles

Resource type

still image

Subjects

Entertainment
Lifestyle
Culture

African American businesspeople--California--Los Angeles