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Leo Macdonell

sportswriter

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ6524017
Source-derived summary

Leo Abbott Macdonell (August 17, 1888 – October 6, 1957) was an American sportswriter at the Detroit Times for 33 years from 1924 to 1957. He served as the president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America in 1946.

Early years

Macdonell was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin in August 1888. He was the son of Donald Macdonell (1861–1948) and Mary Harrett (Ermatinger) Macdonell (1868–1925). By 1900, the family had moved to Superior, Wisconsin, where Macdonell's father was employed as a storekeeper, and later in the life insurance business, and as a bookkeeper in a coal office.

Reporter in Wisconsin

By 1910, Macdonell was employed as a reporter for a newspaper in Superior, Wisconsin. At the time of World War I, Macdonnella was a newspaper reporter for the Superior Telegram. At the time of the 1920 United States census, Macdonell was living in Superior, working as a journalist. He became the managing editor of the Superior Times and also worked as a boxing promoter.

Detroit Times

Macdonell came to Detroit, Michigan as a sportswriter for the Detroit Times, a position he held for 33 years.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Leo Macdonell” as sportswriter. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1888, 1957, 1924, 1946—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1888-08-17. The account is most persuasive where Macdonell and sportswriter can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as sportswriter. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6524017. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1888, 1957, 1924 and 1946.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Leo Macdonell” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.