In the 1920s and 30s, SDSU transitioned from a a small women’s teachers school to a co-ed teachers college with a progressive curriculum. The old location in University Heights could no longer support the enlarging student body. The current site… read more
These white and teal, wood and concrete benches, many of them with "WPA" stamped on the side, can be found throughout the campus.
The WPA built three classrooms, a lecture hall, basement, and an arcade (which provided a covered walk between the administration building and the science buildings). This classroom addition forms a quadrangle, and is part of the original design for SDSU…. read more
The WPA built a sewage disposal system, drainage facilities, roadways, walls, walkways, and gutters, and completed grading, landscaping, excavation for the college.
SERA began constructing the Aztec Bowl in 1933, spending $260,000 on excavating, filling, leveling, and removing rock. The WPA provided another $216,863 for the labor for filling in the canyon, seating for 10,000 people, as well as a flood lightening… read more
The Open Air Theater is a Greek-style amphitheater. Originally it was used for commencement, daytime speakers, and summertime plays, and in the 1960s housed the San Diego Symphony summer concerts. Today it is still used for graduation events and rallies.
Originally called the Power Plant Building, it was repaired and expanded as a WPA project in the 1940s.
"Two Works Progress Administration (WPA)-era murals from the 1930s, long thought to have been destroyed during subsequent building renovations, were uncovered in San Diego State Universitys (SDSU) Hardy Memorial Tower in August of 2004. Local student artists Genevieve Burgeson Bredo… read more
This 5′ high black diorite sculpture “The Aztec” was carved by Donal Hord and his team in 1936, a project that took a year to complete. The one-ton block of stone they sculpted was quarried locally from Escondido. Previously in… read more