James W. Lunsford The Ocean and the Sunset, The Hills and the Clouds: Looking at Santa Monica, illustrated by Alice N. Lunsford, 1983, 1939
"5. Dedication Plaque. Set in the walkway directly in front of the City Hall steps is a stone plaque, installed by the Native Sons of the Golden West, on November 25, 1939, dedicating the City Hall to Truth, Liberty, and Tolerance."
"8. McDonald Wright Murals. 1939. These murals, situated on each side of the lobby, were designed and created by the internationally known artist and writer Stanton McDonald Wright. They are done in petrachrome, a then-new art medium developed by McDonald Wright on this very project, attracting nationwide interest. Described as "painting in concrete," petrachrome is an adaptation of the process of making terrazzo floors which uses a mixture of cement and crushed bits of tile, marble, and granite poured into place, hardened, and then polished smooth.
"The two panels represent the history and the then-present of Santa Monica. The north wall depicts the coming of the Spanish Explorers Gaspar de Portola and Junipero Serra, the Indian and Mexican occupations, and the legendary spring said to have reminded early soldiers of the tears of Saint Monica. The second panel, on the south wall, portrays more modern aspects of Santa Monica life, including sailboats and airplanes, beachgoers with striped umbrellas, road races, polo and tennis (both of which were especially popular in the '30s), a red chow-chow dog (a favorite breed of 1939), and a boy wearing "Keds" tennis shoes who is playing with a model airplane.
"The artist, Stanton McDonald Wright, was a Santa Monica resident, and a graduate of Santa Monica High School. He earlier painted the murals in the old Santa Monica Library which are now all stored in the Smithsonian Institution except for one panel on loan to the Santa Monica College Library. Wright's father was once manager of the famous Arcadia Hotel, and his brother was the well-known mystery writer S.S. Van Dyne."
Santa Monica Pier-Arcadia Terrace
"1. Colorado Avenue Viaduct. The concrete entry bridge to the pier, constructed in 1939 by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, replaced the former grade-level extension that crossed the Appian Way-Pacific Coast Highway intersection."