George Washington High School (San Francisco)

The brick facade of George Washington High School rises above the intersection of Thirty-second Avenue and Anza Street, dominated by a massive, central clock tower. Built in nineteen thirty-six, the school holds a notorious set of murals inside its lobby by Victor Arnautoff. During the Depression, the federal government commissioned these frescoes to depict Washington’s life. Instead of purely heroic scenes, Arnautoff painted the dark realities of slavery and the displacement of Native Americans, sparking intense, recurring community debates about their place in the school.