This was Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, after the earthquake that hit the city late in the afternoon of March 10, 1933.
The photo, apparently obtained by my father at the time of the quake, is one of several snapshots showing damaged buildings and displaced residents that were among my sister’s personal papers. There were brief captions on the back, some in my dad’s handwriting, others typed and glued on.
Although my father was born in Berkeley, his family moved to Long Beach when he was very young, and he grew up in that coastal city.
He graduated from Wilson High School. I think that was in 1932.
Other photos show damaged businesses, and an area in Bixby Park where the Red Cross set up an emergency shelter with kitchens and tents.
Click on the photo to see the rest of the earthquake pictures.
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Both my Mom and Dad’s families lived there too. I remember them talking about Bixby Park. Dad had just opened his dental practice in Long Beach in 1932. (USC class of 1932 dental school) Payment was often in the form of food.
My family was at grandfather’s house in Surfside at the time of the quake. My dad was 6 ft 3 inches tall and immediately stood up from kitchen table and spread his arms to keep cupboard doors from opening. My sister was one year old and in a walker which crashed into open door—We drove back to Whittier to check damage to grandfather’s house and ours just down the road. Saw a lot of damage on the road, large cracks in pavements, etc. Our house was okay as I remember, but grandfather’s two-story house lost its chimney.
That is not Wilson; it’s Jefferson Junior High.