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August 12, 1924. "International Boys Leagues. Thomas W. Miles and Simon Zebrock of Los Angeles at White House." View full size. National Photo Co.
I was wondering if that was a picture of my Father, Thomas Myles born in 1906 attended Roosevelt High and was a lawer
Looks like those fellows knew how to do a good spitshine. Did they have patent leather in '26?
[More than they do today. - Dave]
He could be wearing spats over regular shoes---I think that was still fairly common in the '20s. Not so easy to find now, but you sometimes can find them through theatrical costume suppliers.
According to my research (including numerous articles in the Los Angeles Times digital archives), Thomas William Myles Jr. (not Miles) was born in 1906. His father served as an Assistant Secretary of the Interior under President Theodore Roosevelt. He attended Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles. He became a lawyer and married Dorothy (maiden name unknown) in 1929. When he was 18, he traveled to Paris for a convention of the International Boys League and was elected the organization’s president. He was also president of the California chapter of the junior branch of the NAACP. He was an active advocate for civil rights for African-Americans, and ran for the California State Senate in 1938. He died in Los Angeles on May 2, 1985. I could not locate an obituary, and do not know if he had any children.
I like Thomas's shoes very much, wonder what they are called.
This is Joe Manning again. Further research seems to indicate that the Thomas W. Miles who died in Washington, DC is not the same as the one in the photo. In addition, I just discovered that the Thomas Miles I originally tracked down in the census in Los Angeles, born in 1907, turns out to be white, and the Thomas in the photo appears to be African-American. So it looks like I got this one wrong. I'll work on this some more.
Amazing how much the fellow on the right looks like a young Dustin Hoffman!
According to my research, Thomas W. Miles was born in West Virginia in 1907, and died in Washington, DC, on April 9, 1997. Simon Zebrock (official records indicate spelled Zebrack) was born in Missouri in 1908, and was killed in WWII in 1943.
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