Grail photo?
Nov. 10th, 2018 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ashetlandponyIs the girl in black my mother? The time and place are right. According to the source, the year is 1938, and at that time, Mother was working in the first building at left in the distance that's entirely in the sunshine: Philharmonic Auditorium on Pershing Square in Los Angeles.
We're looking east on Fifth Street here, with its intersection with Olive down where the street car is waiting to cross. As you can see on the sign, to the right of the lady in black is the Biltmore Hotel, and up the block in back of us is the Central Library, where Mom used to tell me she often took her lunch breaks.
One of the main reasons I first got interested in old Los Angeles about 10 years ago is that Mother lived, studied and worked Downtown from age 17 until she married Father. All these years, I've been hoping to find her someday in one of the many street scenes I come across from time to time online.
I wish the photo were larger so I could be sure. The girl certainly has my mom's youthful physique and carries herself similarly. Mom also wore glasses, at least when she wasn't posing for pictures. I'm a little dubious about the date ascribed to the photo, though. Reason being, in 1938, the Auditorium underwent an extensive exterior remodeling, and there's no sign of any such work going on here. Could be very early in the year, though. Who knows? Maybe this is her, after all!
The second photo shows mom at work in Edwin Lester's office at the L.A. Civic Light Opera. Note the date. I hadn't noticed it before, but she's wearing Frank Naso's engagement ring here! She would marry him in August of that same year.
We're looking east on Fifth Street here, with its intersection with Olive down where the street car is waiting to cross. As you can see on the sign, to the right of the lady in black is the Biltmore Hotel, and up the block in back of us is the Central Library, where Mom used to tell me she often took her lunch breaks.
One of the main reasons I first got interested in old Los Angeles about 10 years ago is that Mother lived, studied and worked Downtown from age 17 until she married Father. All these years, I've been hoping to find her someday in one of the many street scenes I come across from time to time online.
I wish the photo were larger so I could be sure. The girl certainly has my mom's youthful physique and carries herself similarly. Mom also wore glasses, at least when she wasn't posing for pictures. I'm a little dubious about the date ascribed to the photo, though. Reason being, in 1938, the Auditorium underwent an extensive exterior remodeling, and there's no sign of any such work going on here. Could be very early in the year, though. Who knows? Maybe this is her, after all!
The second photo shows mom at work in Edwin Lester's office at the L.A. Civic Light Opera. Note the date. I hadn't noticed it before, but she's wearing Frank Naso's engagement ring here! She would marry him in August of that same year.
