Artist Caspar Duchow created four 4′ x 6′ mosaics depicting animals for the East Whittier Middle School: “Hippos,” “Waterfowl,” “Tropical Birds” and “Monkey.” The mosaics were created in 1937 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project.
The 1939 WPA Accomplishment Report for Southern California reported that the WPA improved the grounds at this South Whittier school. The school building itself may also be New Deal, as it shows classic PWA Moderne architecture.
Lou Henry Hoover School in Whittier was built in 1938 by the New Deal. It has recently been renamed the Lou Henry Hoover School of Fine Arts. Lou Henry Hoover was the wife of President Herbert Hoover and a played… read more
The Hoover School of Fine Arts, previously known as the Lou Henry Hoover Elementary School, is graced with beautiful bas-reliefd frieze by Bartolo Mako over the entrance. The frieze depicts a scene of the early Quakers who founded the city… read more
The New Deal post office building in Whittier, California, was constructed in 1935 with federal Treasury Department funds. It was designed by R. L. Warren, with Louis A. Simon, one of the Roosevelt Administration’s chief New Deal architects, serving as… read more
This tempera mural “Boy with Sheep” by Thomas Laman was painted in 1938 with funding from the Section of Fine Arts and the Treasury Relief Art Project. It has since been painted over.
The WPA partially demolished and reconstructed the West Whittier School in the 1930s. From the photo below: "The West Whittier Grammar School constructed by the WPA in California is a far cry from the little old 'red schoolhouse', of a… read more
Whittier High School—perhaps best known as Hill Valley High School in the film Back to the Future—was rebuilt with New Deal funds after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. The funding almost surely came from the Public Works Administration (PWA), which had… read more
“This new reinforced-concrete reservoir replaces a privately owned and outmoded 1 5.000-gallon tank which had become insanitary and which was at an insufficient elevation to serve the community at a proper water pressure. The new structure is approximately 38 feet… read more
“The March 11, 1889 Act of the California Legislature authorized the establishment of a school for juvenile offenders. Dedication and laying of cornerstone was done by Governor R. W. Waterman on February 12, 1890. Officially opened as ‘Whittier State School’… read more
The beautiful and well-used William Penn Park in Whittier, California was built by the WPA. Some WPA stamps from 1940 remain in the sidewalks.