Donald M. Cleland A History of the Santa Monica Schools 1876-1951, Santa Monica Unified School District, February 1952 (Copied for the Santa Monica Library, July 22, 1963). 140 pp., 1949, 1933, 1922
When Miss Rice accepted a position in the Lincoln Junior High School, she was succeeded in the principalship at Garfield [Elementary at Michigan and Seventh] by Josephine O'Leary, who took up her duties in the fall of 1922 and remained as principal of Garfield School until her retirement in 1949. Her tenure was distinguished by much progress, both in point of physical facilities and curricular development. Her effort was tireless, her determination unflagging, to provide the pupils of Garfield School with the best educational opportunities possible. Even in 1922, it was apparent that the building was becoming inadequate for the needs of the school, that pupils were handicapped by insufficient or outmoded equipment, that too little provision was made for "special" classes. [32. Personal interview with Josephine O'Leary, May 10, 1951; Santa Monica, California.] Miss O'Leary plunged energetically into the task of remedying the situation.