{"id":102593,"date":"2025-04-21T11:04:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T15:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=102593"},"modified":"2025-04-21T11:04:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T15:04:39","slug":"the-mystery-of-the-school-memory-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/the-mystery-of-the-school-memory-book.html","title":{"rendered":"The Mystery of the \u2018School Memory Book\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega solves a genealogy mystery: identifying the owner of a 1945 school memory book she finds in an antique shop. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big fan of antique stores, and my favorite thing to do there is \u201crescue\u201d orphan heirlooms. There\u2019s no doubt that some of these treasures find their way to an antique store because the family has died out but, in some cases, items end up for sale because someone lost them, or they didn\u2019t realize another family member was interested.<\/p>\n

What do I do with these pieces of material culture that I buy? It depends.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, I use them for presentations or article examples. Other times, I strictly use them to reunite with the family. One of my latest acquisitions is a scrapbook titled Autographs and Memories: A School Memory Book<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A School Memory Book<\/strong><\/p>\n

This book does not have an obvious owner so let\u2019s start by taking a look at the book.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: school memory book. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This scrapbook is meant to be filled with autographs and photographs by the owner. It was published in 1927. This copy is starting to show its age since the binding and cover are loose and the writing on the cover is difficult if not impossible to read.<\/p>\n

No name is found on the inside cover where there is room to add the owner\u2019s name, but a look at what ephemera exists points to the owner, a date, and a school.<\/p>\n

One observation I made is that there are items missing, as evidenced from the brown stains where paper or photographs were once glued. What\u2019s left in this book is some writing, photographs, and what appears to be pages from a yearbook.<\/p>\n

The Details: Or, as Much as Can Be Found<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, I wanted to discover what a \u201cschool memory book\u201d is. Using historical newspapers, the answer is: it\u2019s a do-it-yourself yearbook. It provides a student with the opportunity to write their memories, obtain autographs of students and teachers, and add photographs and other ephemera items.<\/p>\n

I looked at historical newspapers to see how these books were advertised.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Journal-Gazette (Fort Wayne, Indiana), 30 May 1948, page 46<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Advertised as a gift for graduates, though in reality this is something that should be given prior to graduating. These books retailed between $1.50 to $2.25 in 1948, which equals approximately $20 to $33 today. (1)<\/p>\n

Aside from advertising, I found a newspaper article that discussed the use of a school memory book at a party where guests were invited to paste a photo of themselves and then autograph the book to be presented to the guest of honor.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Daily Nonpareil (Council Bluffs, Iowa), 1 July 1946, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now that I have some historical understanding of this type of book, I want to know the big question: whose book is this? I think the answer comes from the name found on an American Junior Red Cross membership card pasted in the book. That card has the name \u201cMarjorie Tedesco\u201d on it. My guess is that only the owner of the book would paste that card in.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Red Cross page in school memory book. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A photograph of the Girls\u2019 Gate Service group includes a Marjorie Tedesco (first row, left to right, 6th girl)<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Girls\u2019 Gate Service group in school memory book. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Looking at Marjorie Tedesco in the above photograph, I believe this is another photo of her on the \u201cRaymond Wade Berry\u201d page.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Raymond Wade Berry page in school memory book. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a close-up of the above photo showing Marjorie (?) with Raymond.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: close-up of Marjorie (?) and Raymond in school memory book. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think I\u2019ve identified the original owner of this school memory book, so now I want to know what school she went to. A class poem pasted on one of the first pages has a clue.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: class poem in school memory book. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first line of the class poem reads:<\/p>\n

\u201cThree years have passed since we were \u2018scrubs\u201d at South Gate Junior High.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A year would be helpful in this research in order to identify people mentioned. \u201cS\u201945\u201d is found above the class poem, and the signature of Raymond Wade Berry also includes the year \u201c1945.\u201d<\/p>\n

I believe that this is the school memory book of Marjorie Tedesco from South Gate Junior High School in 1945. Additional genealogical research into Marjorie and Raymond Wade Berry does show that they lived in Los Angeles County. South Gate Junior High (founded in 1941) still exists and is known today as South Gate Middle School. (2)<\/p>\n

Questions Remain<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, with everything I\u2019ve learned there are still questions. For example, Marjorie\u2019s Red Cross card is dated 1942 and it says she is a high school member. That doesn\u2019t make sense if she attended junior high school in 1945. Maybe they gave those cards to any \u201cjunior\u201d member?<\/p>\n

Another question is that some of the teachers\u2019 photos say the subject they teach (such as Spanish) but a few say (San Gabriel) underneath them.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: teachers\u2019 page in school memory book. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

San Gabriel is a city about 40 minutes away from South Gate in Southern California, so were these teachers teaching in multiple places? \u201cSan Gabriel\u201d doesn\u2019t make sense as a school subject.<\/p>\n

So, What Now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the things I try to do with photographic heirlooms is to digitize and upload the photos to online trees so that their families can have access to the photos. There are a few photos in the book that are \u201creal photos\u201d and not yearbook pages. I will digitize those and upload them.<\/p>\n

My next step after that is to either find descendants of Marjorie or see if South Gate Middle School would like this for their archives. There\u2019s so much missing from the book but it may be a nice artifact for the school.<\/p>\n

Have you \u201crescued\u201d an heirloom from an antique store? What did you do with it? I\u2019d love to hear about it in the comments below.<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em> close-up of the cover of a 1945 school memory book. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/p>\n

__________________<\/p>\n

(1) CPI Inflation Calculator at https:\/\/www.in2013dollars.com\/us\/inflation\/1948?amount=1.50<\/a>
\n(2) South Gate Middle School, https:\/\/southgatems.lausd.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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