How a Thrift Store Purchase Led Me on an Adventure Through the History of Los Angeles

Sometimes we find community in unlikely places

The Wilcox Building, where J Wiseman Macdonald had offices in 1896.Public Domain Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

So, I have a strange little hobby. — I actively search thrift stores for vintage and antique books with names written in them and attempt to reunite the book with descendants of the original owner. Who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned genealogical puzzle? I, for one, do

Recently, I was combing through the book section at my favorite thrift store when one particularly old book caught my eye. It was a school book with an olive green hard-back cover. I carefully opened the book to reveal a name written in pencil on the inside cover with a child’s hand, as well as a partial address:

Eleanor’s Book/Heather Monroe

Eleanor Macdonald 2526 So. Figueroa Street

I paid $2 for the little book, entitled Graded City Speller, Book Two for Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Year Grades. Score! I rushed home to see what I could learn about this precocious perfectionist who, in 1916, drew witches in her schoolbook.

I thumbed through the crisp, yellow pages, excited to find more clues. Eleanor underlined…