On my first day as a kindergarten teacher, I was introduced to the vivid imagination of Michael. He was manipulating a key game and said to me, “Mrs. McKinney, I’ve locked you inside this box.”

In the booming postwar economy, Harrison embraced a new architectural style and bestowed in on schools throughout Whittier. One writer said, “with these walls of glass, children became engaged and open-minded because the environment stimulated the senses in a different way.”

It is a cherished memory because I went with my father to get supplies for his projects, saw trains together, and enjoyed the smell of fresh cut lumber.

It was a bright sunny day. We drove to my grandparents’ home and walked over from there. I was 5 or 6 years old. I remember holding my father’s hand as we made our way over to the Quad. We were standing directly against the stage and I was looking up at Fleming and Eastwood as they spoke. When they finished, my father talked to each of them and then they leaned down and each shook my hand.

Named by the LAUSD Assistant Superintendent one of the six best-designed schools in America, Hoover stands at the east end of Camilla Street at 6302 Alta Avenue. Built in 1938, and now called the Lou Henry Hoover School of Fine Arts, it was named after the Whittier-raised wife of the 31st president of the United States. “The severity of this Regency Moderne building is lightened by the concave central bay with a handsome Wedgewood-like curved relief panel depicting the Pageant of Education.”