Sacramento City College, 1926 – 1946 Aviation, Art Balls, Nursing & More

Bruce Marwick, the Preservation Chair of the Sacramento Art Deco Society, will be exploring

Sacramento City College’s history during its first 20 years at its Freeport Boulevard campus.

City College, previously Sacramento Junior College (SJC), excelled at establishing academic

and professional programs that were not readily available to American students in the 1920s

and 1930s. City College was one of the first junior colleges in the nation to offer associate

degrees in aeronautics, engineering, commercial art and nursing.

The presentation will highlight professors and students that helped make City College a special

environment. One such individual was John Mathew, an art professor, who established two

important organizations at SJC: the Art Students’ League and the annual Art Balls. The Art

Students League helped to raise thousands of dollars through its Art Balls ticket sales. The

proceeds of the Art Balls were given back to SJC students in the form of grants and

scholarships.

Bruce Marwick is a board member of the Sacramento History Alliance. His interest in

Sacramento City College came about while researching Bernyce Polifka, a noted commercial

and fine artist who graduated from SJC in 1933. Bruce has also written many articles about

early 20 th Century Sacramento artists and architects, including Alfred Eichler, designer of the

Tower Bridge and Carlo Taliabue, a noted Gladding McBean sculptor.