George Washington High School

As part of my high school class’ 50th reunion celebration, the planning committee organized a tour of the school a day before the big dinner. I wasn’t that interested in going since it would have meant I would have to confront my reunion apprehensions and drive into San Francisco for two days in a row.

But, then, by a remarkable coincidence, the Art Deco Society of California (www.artdecosociety.org) planned its own tour of my high school on the same day as the dinner. The school, George Washington High School in San Francisco (http://gwhs-sfusd-ca.schoolloop.com/), is a remarkable deco structure. It was fortunate to have been built on a hill with in an extraordinary view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The auditorium, plaza, sunken football field and lower tennis courts seem to flow like a cascade towards the Golden Gate. The architect was the renowned Timothy Pflueger and there were frescos by Victor Arnautoff, Ralph Stackpole, Lucien Labaudt, and Gordon Langdon. A 185-foot long bas-relief by Sargent Johnson covers the entire width of the football field behind one of the goals. (See http://www.newdealartregistry.org/NewDealArtRegistry.html#)

Photo by Shelly Levintal

I’m a card-carrying member of the Art Deco Society and being able to get a tour led by the society’s preservation director, as well as being able to get it without a separate trip into the City, was irresistible. I also felt there might be others like me, so with the permission of the Society I forwarded the announcement to my classmates.

Eight of them showed up and most of us agreed: All this beauty, the architecture, the murals, the site itself, was totally wasted on us as high school students. One classmate said that her recollection of one of the murals was simply that she’d meet friends under the “D.I.,” short for “Dead Indian,” one of the figures in Arnautoff’s “Life of Washington” fresco. As for myself, there was no chance to notice the art since I was far too worried about being accepted by my male comrades, being attractive to females, and avoiding the “queer” appellation that was the favorite put-down of the day.

A TRIP TO TREASURE ISLAND

Recently a friend and I visited Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.  The main purpose of our trip was to have lunch at the restaurant run by the Job Corps, a training program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor  (http://treasureisland.jobcorps.gov/home.aspx).  The food was good as was the service, although there were perhaps a few too many, “If you need anything else’s ...”  The dining area was an old Navy building that, unfortunately, did not afford any of the outstanding vistas that you can find on the island.

After lunch we explored Building One, a beautiful art deco structure that originally was an airplane terminal serving the Pan American Clipper seaplanes that flew the Pacific.  Although the building has been well maintained, its huge lobby is an empty shell with just a small cubicle used by a security guard.  Minimal murals and information panels trace the history of the island from its creation using soil dredged from the bay, the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition, its takeover by the Navy as war loomed, and finally its decommissioning in 1996.  When I found out that the lobby had once been a museum displaying artifacts from various stages in the island's history, but was closed when the Navy pulled out, I was quite upset.  From talking to the guard I found out that the artifacts, at least, still exist and are in storage.  Fortunately an organization, The Treasure Island Museum Association (http://www.treasureislandmuseum.org/),is trying to get the museum re-established in its original location.  I found the Association's small office, grabbed a membership application, and mailed it off with my check.

We left Building One and walked to a dilapidated picnic area and then down some stairs to a beach on Clipper Cove.  It was quite peaceful and afforded a great view of the new bridge that will replace the eastern part of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (http://baybridgeinfo.org/).  When finished, it will feature a self-anchored suspension span that will dramatically change the bridge’s appearance and make San Francisco an even more beautiful destination.

New Bay Bridge being constructed