Ann Dvorak’s Los Angeles, Pt 4 – Elliott School For Girls, 1303 S. Gramercy Pl.
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 240
Today’s stop on our tour of Ann Dvorak’s Los Angeles takes us to one of two schools Ann attended during her formative years. The Elliot School For Girls, which promised “character building,” was located in a converted home at the corner of Gramercy & Pico, which was probably an old Victorian residence. Unfortunately, I have yet to locate a photo of the school, so what we have for reference is an old Sanborn Fire Insurance map from around 1921.
Ann’s attendance at the  Elliott School For Girls was a last minute revelation that came in the stash of personal items I obtained in May. I recall seeing the school referenced on one piece of studio publicity, but since that was the lone mention I did not follow up on it.
Ann’s personal items contained letters from a friend who attended the school with Ann and recalled how the pair would sneak into the kitchen at night to snack on olives and chocolate cake. I am not sure how long Ann attended, but she would eventually graduate from a different school.
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As you can see, the area now has multi-unit residences, but at least now when you’re cruising down Pico, you’ll have an excuse to think of Ann Dvorak.
Let me say you really rate a 10 out of 10 on these ‘Ann Dvorak’s Los Angeles’ installments.
When you found out about “The Elliott School For Girls”, did you, maybe, close your eyes and imagine Ann as she was in that early scene in “Three On A Match” as the younger Vivian at the “Miss Jasons School For Young Ladies”, reading the slightly suggestive (for the time) stories to her classmates?
Finally … olives and chocolate cake? Really?
Thanks Scott, I appreciate it. I tried hard to not let the research interfere with the narrative of the book. It irritates me when authors are so impressed with what they find that they show off within the text, which I find distracting. I feel like a blog is much more informal, so these posts are my way of being a research geek.
And yes, I did think of that scene in THREE ON A MATCH while writing about her school girl years!
Just ran across an ad for Elliott School on Ebay, and on further search your interesting article. My mother (born 1910) went to Elliott School when Ann was there (said she had roommate who later became actress but it could have been another). Did she have a sister? Will have to try to remember. I have no photos.
Thank you.
Hi Richard, No, Ann did not have any siblings, so this could very well have been her! She would have been going by Anna McKim or Anna Pearson at that time.
I am happy to say, I have amazing photographs of Elliott School for Girls in Spring of 1920. All of the little girl residents (including my grandmother) are dressed up like nymphs and faeries for their Spring performance on the front lawn. I would be happy to share, if you would like to contact me.
Hi Richard, My grandmother Helen Charlotte Wilson, also born in 1910, was at Elliott during the 1920’s, and maybe was there with your grandmother? She might be in the photos I have!
Hi Felicia! For some reason I am not getting notifications when comments come through, so I just saw this. I would LOVE to see photos of the Elliot School. I’ll send you an email, thanks!