Los Angeles Sites

John Burroughs Middle School (formerly Junior High School), which opened in 1924, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of...

John C. Fremont High School, which opened in 1924, was renovated with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees...

John Marshall High School is an iconic building in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles. Walt Disney and his family lived across the street from the "Collegiate Gothic" structure, and from 1927-1940 operated his Disney Studios and Animation School just one block away (Marshall High is the brick building visible in the background at center in this picture of the original Disney Animation Studio, c. 1939). At the same time Disney was producing his most well-known cartoons and films, WPA laborers were down the street installing Marshall High's concrete bleachers and pavillion, which are still used by students today. These WPA-built bleachers and...

Artist Tyrone Comfort painted two murals, "Printing" and "Science and Industry," at John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, CA. He was funded by the Federal Arts Project (FAP). "Printing" depicted "the industry from the time of stone records, monastic production of books, and Chinese block printing, to the most modern machines and processes. "Mr. Tyrone Comfort is the young man whose easel painting 'Gold Is Where You Find It' was one of thirty-one chosen by President Roosevelt for hanging in the White House, from a showing of 15,000 in the Carnegie-Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., in 1934" (Wells, p. 21). Comfort's...

Artist P. G. Napolitano painted two frescoes at John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, CA. The two 6' by 8' panels are located on either side of the main lobby's entrance. Napolitano received funding from the Federal Arts Project (FAP). "Mr. Napolitano's main interest has always been in murals, which he executes in tempra (egg white), in frescoes, and in Sgraffito which he introduced here in creative work. Much of his work is marked by the omission of pretty detail and mere decorativeness until only the essential stand out; economy of line, rhythm, and strength are the three uppermost...

In 1934, Harold Swartz created a bronze sculpture for John Marshall High School (Los Angeles, CA) of the school's namesake. He likely received funding from the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP).

John Muir Middle School (formerly Junior High School), which opened in 1922, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of...

In 1936, artist Dorothy Jeakins completed an oil on canvas painting titled "White Pitcher" for Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Middle School (formerly Mount Vernon Junior High School) in Los Angeles, CA. Located in the principal's office, the painting—a still life—depicts a white pitcher and green apples scattered on a table covered with a red cloth. It is framed in a gilded frame and the back is inscribed “Mt. Vernon JHS Student Body" with a partial Federal Art Project (FAP) label #6083 dated “10-7-36” affixed to the verso stretcher bar. A student of Stanton Macdonald-Wright, director of the Southern California division of the...

Jordan High School (formerly David Starr Jordan High School), established in 1925, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The work was completed in 1935. The PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) in January 1934 for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake. One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Jordan High School's five original buildings, the Los Angeles Conservancy writes, were retrofitted and renovated "with a unifying PWA Moderne style....

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of a girl's gymnasium at Jordan High School (formerly David Starr Jordan High School) in Los Angeles, CA. The gymnasium, completed in 1937, was one of two structures on Jordan High School's campus built by the PWA. The other was a loggia, built in 1935, connecting the Administration Building to the North Annex. Jordan High School's five original buildings, the Los Angeles Conservancy writes, were also retrofitted and renovated "with a unifying PWA Moderne style." The PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District in January 1934 for the rehabilitation of schools damaged...

Artist Emery Gellert painted a portrait of Principal J. A. Davis for David Starr Jordan High School (formerly David Starr Jordan High School) in Los Angeles, CA. The portrait was funded by California's State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA), which covered the cost of artwork executed between the termination of the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) in 1934 and the establishment of the Works Progress Administration's Federal Arts Project (FAP) the following year. "Under this project sixty people were producing one hundred twenty hours per month mostly to producing easel works in oil, water color, pastel, and drawings. The funds ran...

Althea Ulber painted a mural, "Youth and Democracy," at Jordan High School in Los Angeles, CA. The 4 x 30 foot mural is located in the school library. Completed in 1937, it was funded by the Federal Art Project (FAP). The mural depicts fifteen figures of different ethnicities, with an older man at the center. A ribbon painted across the mural reads "Confucius, Good Relationship, Music, Industry, Language, Law, Literature, BROTHERHOOD, Dignity, Love for Nature, Courtesy, Fine Taste." Born in Los Angeles, Ulber studied with artists including Stanton Macdonald-Wright, the director of the FAP's Southern California division. From 1921 to 1941, Ulber...

The former Lafayette Junior High School, which opened in the 1920s, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1936. Reconstruction was carried out by architect Arlos B. Sedgley and general contractor Monolith Construction Company. The Los Angeles Union School District (LAUSD) closed the school in 1955 due to decreases in student enrollment. The property is now used as a LAUSD maintenance plant. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake. One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from...

A statue of the Marquis de LaFayette in Revolutionary War uniform constructed of concrete by sculptor Arnold Foerster was installed and dedicated in 1937. His other known work is his collaboration on the astronomers monument at Griffith Observatory.

Lenicia B. Weemes Elementary School (formerly Thirty-Seventh Street Elementary School), which opened in 1899, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake. One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that...

Lillian Street Elementary School, which opened in 1921, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. It appears that at least one PWA structure remains on campus—confirmation is needed. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los...

Improvements to Lincoln Park (Los Angeles, CA) were carried out by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) in 1932-33. According to the 1932-33 Annual Report of the Los Angeles Board of Park Commissioners, "Two hundred lineal feet of walks were built, and 5,075 feet of redwood curbing used to define the older walks. A fire break, 1,500 feet long and 30 feet wide, was built along the north end and east side of the park, protecting the grounds from fires from adjacent vacant land. Catch basins were installed to control the water from rains that wash down from the hills surrounding the...

In 1937, artist Peter David Edstrom made a stone sculpture of Florence Nightingale for Lincoln Park in Los Angeles, CA. The park is located a block away from the county hospital. Nightingale is depicted in a nurse's dress and hat. Her hands—which were broken and badly reformed—hold a candle. A matching statue by Edstrom is located at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco, CA.

Logan Academy of Global Ecology (formerly Logan Street Elementary School), which opened in 1888, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every...

Lorena Street Elementary School, which opened in 1913, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with...

The Los Angeles Center for Advanced Studies was launched in 1977 as the first magnet school in LA and used various facilities such as a temple, an unused building at Hamilton High School, and a closed Catholic School at Pico and Arlington before moving to the current site in 1986. It now occupies the campus of the former Louis Pasteur Middle School, which was built in 1939 with aid from the Public Works Administration (PWA) – sometimes called by its full name, the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, as in this case. It is probable that the Pasteur Middle School was built...

'This institution covers an area of approximately nine city blocks. The life-science building, the chemistry building, and the library are included in this project. The life-science building contains on two floors: two zoology, one anatomy, one biology, one botany, and one physiology laboratory; two lecture rooms, two classrooms, two workrooms, a dark room, and offices, stockrooms and storerooms. The construction, of concrete, is fireproof and designed to resist earthquakes. It was completed in May 1938 at an estimated construction cost of $108,667 and a project cost of $119,845.'

The Los Angeles County General Hospital (today's Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center) was constructed between 1927 and 1933. By 1939, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) had carried out improvements to the iconic Art Deco hospital in Los Angeles, CA. The hospital's construction was funded by a bond measure and voluntary tax increase. "In December 1933, the new concrete monument to public health opened to the public. The 1,680-bed facility had cost the County $12 million and encompassed more than one million square feet. The USC Keck School of Medicine, which had partnered with the County since its founding in 1885, would...

Mines Field opened as the official airport of Los Angeles in 1930, but when it applied for WPA funds in 1935, it was rejected because the land was still leased from private owners. In 1937, the city took full control of the airport and massive WPA construction commenced. The airport's name was officially changed to the Los Angeles Airport in 1941 and to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in 1949. The government saw its work on this airport as being of immense significance for national defense. The official description of the 1940s photos shown below reads: "Los Angeles Municipal Airport...

"The Los Angeles National Cemetery was dedicated on May 22, 1889, a few days after the first interment. The Works Progress Administration constructed the Spanish Revival style administration building-chapel and the indoor columbarium at the National Cemetery in the late 1930s and early 1940s."

"Designed as the largest enclosed structure without walls in the world by noted California architects Robert Clements and Associates, this Art Deco building, constructed between 1938 and 1941 by the WPA, is the largest and second-oldest Navy Reserve Center in the United Stages. It has served as the induction, separation, and training center for more than 100,000 sailors since World War II well as the filming site for countless motion pictures and television shows."

This Mission Revival style building was built under the Roosevelt Administration and served as the main mail distribution for LA until 1994. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Only a part of this structure still functions as a post office, but the front lobby and its WPA murals have been preserved.

This fresco in the Post Office Terminal Annex lobby consists of eleven semi-circular, tempera on plaster "lunettes" by Boris Deutsch depicting "Cultural Contributions of North, South and Central America." The murals were funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and completed in 1944. "The mural series entitled “The Cultural Contributions of North, South and Central America” in the Los Angeles Terminal Annex Post Office was painted in the early 1940s by Boris Deutsch. While the murals depict a number of indigenous North and South Americans, Mr. Deutsch himself was originally from Lithuania... In 1939, he received a commission from the United...

Although the zoo was shut down in 1965, the grounds are still standing and open to the public for walking and picnics, and the site is often used in film and photo locations. A sign at the old zoo reads as follows: "The Griffith Park canyon area served as the City's Zoo from its founding in 1912 to 1965, when the Los Angeles Zoo moved to its current location about two miles north of where you are currently standing. Many of the walls, grottos, and other enclosures you see today were built in the 1930s by County Relief workers and Works...

Icelandic sculptor Nina Saemundsson sculpted an eight-foot black cement nude of Prometheus for the Federal Arts Project (FAP). The sculpture, "Prometheus Bringing Fire to Earth" (1934), is located at the eastern Wilshire Boulevard entrance to MacArthur Park.

Malabar Street Elementary School, which opened in 1913, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with...

Manchester Avenue Elementary School, which opened in 1907, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with...

Manual Arts High School, which opened in 1910, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. Architects John and Donald Parkinson designed a Moderne-style campus of reinforced concrete, featuring horizontal banding, rounded corners, concrete grilles, and tiled entries. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation,...

Mar Vista elementary school was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935.

$110,000 from the Federal Governement helped to construct an elegant concrete Art Deco bridge over the Pacific Electric tracks to replace an obsolete narrow wooden bridge. It was replaced in 1972 by the current utilitarian structure.

Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School (formerly Santa Barbara Avenue Elementary School), which opened in 1914, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. According to the Los Angeles Historic Resources Inventory, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School's Art Deco main classroom building and auditorium, designed by Los Angeles architectural firm Walker and Eisen, "exemplify the Art Deco style, with an emphasis on verticality despite being only one story in height. Additionally, the school's original buildings are indicative of LAUSD's design and planning practices following the Long Beach Earthquake of 1933. The two contributing...

Mary McLeod Bethune Middle School (formerly Jacob Riis High School), which opened in 1925, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake. One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that...

McKinley Avenue Elementary School (formerly Seventy-Ninth Street Elementary School), which opened in 1925, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake. One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every...

In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed a new water system and comfort station at Media Park, a small park at the intersection of Venice Blvd. and Culver Blvd. The lawn area was also renovated, reseeded, and landscaped. Media Park is leased to Culver City by Los Angeles. A theater company, The Actors Gang, is based here at a rebuilt Pacific Electric Railway substation.

Menlo Avenue Elementary School, which opened in 1913, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with...