Local Historian to Display Lummis Library Tonight

No individual is more credited for documenting Highland Park's early history than Charles Fletcher Lummis, and nobody in Highland Park has kept more fastidious records of the man himself than local historian Charles Fisher. 

Fisher owns nearly all of Lummis' nearly two-dozen books, and wrote about him extensively in Images of America: Highland Park, his own 2008 history of the neighborhood. On Monday evening, at the regular meeting of the Highland Park Heritage Trust, Fisher give a presentation on Lummis, his writings and his impact on Arroyo Culture.

"I'm going talk about Lummis, the books he wrote, and his character and how it plays into each period of writing," said Fisher, whose Lummis collection spans from poetry written while he was a student at Harvard University to collections posthumously collected by historians.

The talk will be held tonight (Monday, Jan. 14) at 7 p.m. at 840 N. Ave. 66 in Highland Park.

Fisher said he remains fascinated by Lummis because of his adventurous spirit, and his drive to document indigenous cultures through first hand experience.

"He came from a period of time when Americas were still trying to find themselves, but he was ahead of his time in that he didn't believe all the myth and tired to see people for who they are," he said. "But at the same time he documented and preserved the myths."

Lummis, who legendarily walked from Cincinnati to the Los Angeles to take up his post at the Los Angeles Times first city editor. He lived from 1859 to 1929, and his local estate is still located on Avenue 43 near the border of Highland Park, Cypress Park and Montecito Heights.