Originally built in 1938-1939 with assistance from the New Deal-era Public Works Administration (PWA), the main building of Wallace Rider Farrington High School was designed in the Art Deco style by notable Hawaiian architect Charles William Dickey (C. W. Dickey).  The school was named for Wallace Rider Farrington (1871-1933), an American journalist whom served as the sixth territorial governor of Hawaii from 1921 until 1929, which has become controversial in recent times as awareness of his support of policies favoring the domination of whites in Hawaii has become more prevalent.  The school was established in 1936 to help expand the access to public secondary education among students on Oahu, owing to the minimum age of employment being raised and greater automation and efficiency leading to less need for plantation workers.  The school’s main structure features geometric decorative Art Deco motifs with both simple geometric forms and stylized foliage, with multiple concrete and metal screens, open air corridors, fluted pilasters, a decorative sculptural flagpole base, a hipped roof, concrete structure and exterior walls, and a C-shaped layout wrapping a rear courtyard being the defining features of the building.  The original building was utilized by the United States Army as a hospital during World War II, before being fully returned to civilian usage after the war.  Following World War II, buildings were added to the campus, including the modernist Joseph Rider Farrington Community Auditorium, a natatorium with stadium seating, several additional classroom buildings scattered to the rear of the original building, a large gymnasium, a postmodern-style library, and a series of portable classrooms intended to add additional temporary classroom space.  The front of the school features a sculpture known as The Seed created by local artist Satoru Abe.  The school presently serves a majority Asian American and Pacific Islander population, with many being from the surrounding neighborhoods that have a lower income levels than most other areas of Honolulu.   The school is an excellent example of Art Deco architecture and of the impact that programs funded by the New Deal had on the Hawaiian islands.
w_lemay
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