Lane Technical High School Collection

Dates: 1912-2007, undated
Size: 6.75 linear feet in 12 boxes, plus 1 oversized folder
Repository: Chicago Public Library, Sulzer Regional Library, Northside Neighborhood History Collection, 4455 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625
Collection number: nnhc.lths
Immediate source of acquisition: Donated by James Rodger in 1987 and 1988. After this donation, existing materials on Lane Technical High School were removed from the Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection and combined with the recently received material to create a new collection. Additional material was donated by community members in the following years.
Conditions governing use: Please consult staff to determine ability to reuse materials from collection
Conditions governing access: Materials are open without restrictions
Preferred citation: When quoting material from this collection the preferred citation is: Lane Technical High School Collection, [Box #, Folder #], Northside Neighborhood History Collection, Chicago Public Library
Finding aid author: Processed by Becky Haglund, 1988. Updated and ingested into ArchivesSpace by Allyson Smally and Julie Lynch, 2022.

Abstract

In 1934 Lane Technical High School moved from a building at Sedgwick and Division streets to its campus at Addison Street and Western Avenue. This small collection contains files about the school after it moved.

Lane Technical High School is Chicago's largest high school. It opened in 1908 and moved to its current location at the corner of Western and Addison in 1934. The collection contains Alumni Association files; miscellaneous booklets, programs, clippings, and other ephemera; and copies of three publications: the Lane Tech Prep literary magazine, the yearbook which was also called the Lane Tech Prep until 1958 when it was renamed The Arrowhead, and the newspaper the Lane Tech Warrior.

It also contains a number of artifacts, including commemorative mugs, glasses, buttons, and booklets.

Biographical/Historical

Albert Grannis Lane Manual Training School opened in Chicago in September 1908 at the corner of Sedgwick and Division. A year later, its name was changed to Lane Technical High School. The school was named for Albert G. Lane (1841-1906), an educator and longtime advocate for manual training and technical education in schools. Lane's numerous accomplishments included serving, at age seventeen, as the youngest principal in the history of Chicago Public Schools and serving as superintendent of schools of both Chicago and Cook County.

In the 1910s and 1920s, Lane offered courses in carpentry, cabinet making, and wood turning, in addition to offering a machine shop, electric shop, and print shop. It hosted a night school that enrolled 6000 men and women in these areas as well as sewing, garment making, and other classes. In 1929 it established a music program and became the first Chicago school to offer a four-year concentration in music.

In 1930, as a result of the school's growth, ground was broken on a new building at Addison Street and Western Avenue. Construction took longer than normal because of the economic conditions brought on by the Great Depression, but the building was completed and dedicated in 1934. In 1958 Lane moved to a closed admissions policy and stopped offering remedial courses.

In 1971, Lane began to admit girls, marking another significant milestone in the school's history. In 2020, Lane Tech's local school council voted to replace the Native American symbol that had been used as the school's mascot for over a century.

At the beginning of 2022, Lane Tech's website stated that "Lane Tech is a large, coeducational seventh through twelfth grade public high school, offering students a college preparatory curriculum, with particular emphasis placed upon the technological aspects of a modern education." It has an enrollment of over 4200 students, making it Chicago's largest high school.

Scope and contents

This collection contains Alumni Association files; miscellaneous booklets, programs, clippings, and other ephemera; and copies of three publications: the literary magazine, Lane Tech Prep, the school newspaper, The Lane Warrior; and volumes of the school yearbook which was called Lane Tech Prep until 1958 when students held a contest to rename the yearbook. They voted to call the yearbook The Arrowhead. In addition to the name change, the decision was made to publish the yearbook annually instead of biannually.

It also contains a number of artifacts, including commemorative mugs, glasses, buttons, and booklets.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in 3 series:

Series 1: General Historical Files, 1912-1988, undated

Series 2: Publications, 1924-2007

Series 3: Memorabilia, 1942-1988, undated

Related materials

Amundsen High School Records

Austin High School Records

Englewood High School Records

Fenger High School Records

Lake View High School Collection

Ravenswood Lake View Community Collection, Schools

Subject headings

  • Albert G. Lane Technical High School
  • High schools — Illinois — Chicago — Sources
  • School yearbooks
  • Student newspapers and periodicals

Collection inventory

Series 1: General Historical Files, 1912-1988, undated

Scope and contents

This collection contains Alumni Association files; miscellaneous booklets, programs, clippings, and other ephemera.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by type of material and then chronologically.

Box 1 Folder 1 Alumni Association, correspondence and planning materials for reunion 1971-1972
Box 1 Folder 2 Alumni Association, correspondence and planning materials for reunion 1973
Box 1 Folder 3 Alumni Association, correspondence and planning materials for reunion 1974
Box 1 Folder 4 Alumni Association, correspondence and planning materials for reunion 1975
Box 1 Folder 5 Alumni Association, correspondence and planning materials for reunion 1976
Box 1 Folder 6 Alumni Association, reunion ad book, Class of 1932 and associated alumni 1977
Box 1 Folder 7 Alumni Association, correspondence and planning materials for school anniversary celebration 1982
Box 1 Folder 8 Alumni Association, correspondence and planning materials for school anniversary celebration 1983
Box 1 Folder 9 Alumni Association, correspondence and minutes 1984
Box 1 Folder 10 Alumni Association, correspondence and minutes 1985
Box 1 Folder 11 Alumni Association, correspondence 1986
Box 1 Folder 12 Alumni Association, newsletters 1958-1961, 1963-1976, 1982, 1985-1986; 1988
Box 2 Folder 2 Invitation, senior prom 1982
Box 2 Folder 3 News clippings, flyers 1923-1994
Box 2 Folder 4 Programs, commencement 1912, 1924, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975-1977, 1984-1985, 1987
Box 2 Folder 1 Programs, Diamond Jubilee, program from 1974 graduation, 1st co-ed class, school brochure 1974, 1983, undated
Box 2 Folder 5 Programs, student activities 1913, circa 1970s, 1971, 1986
Box 2 Folder 6 Tickets, commencement 1983-1984

Series 2: Publications, 1924-2007

Scope and contents

This series contains issues of the literary magazine, Lane Tech Prep, the school newspaper, The Lane Warrior; and volumes of the school yearbook. In 1958, the students held a contest to rename the yearbook. At this time, the name changed from Lane Tech Prep to The Arrowhead. In addition to the name change, the decision was made to publish the yearbook annually instead of biannually.

Arrangement

Arranged by alphabetically by type of material and then chronologically.

Box 3 Folder 1 Literary magazine, Lane Tech Prep 1930
Box 3 Folder 1 Literary magazine, Lane Tech Prep 1933
Box 3 Folder 1 Literary magazine, Lane Tech Prep 1951-1952
Box 11 Folder 1 Literary magazine, Lane Tech Prep 1974-1977
Box 4 Folder 2 Literary magazine, Lane Tech Prep 1979
Box 4 Folder 2 Literary magazine, Lane Tech Prep 1980-1981
  Oversize Folder 1 Newspaper, The Lane Warrior 1974 March 15
  Oversize Folder 1 Newspaper, The Lane Warrior 1975 March 7
  Oversize Folder 1 Newspaper, The Lane Warrior 1976 March 17
  Oversize Folder 1 Newspaper, The Lane Warrior 1988 June 17
  Oversize Folder 1 Newspaper, The Lane Warrior 1988 October 19
Box 8 Folder 4 Newspaper, The Lane Warrior 1982 May 14
Box 8 Folder 4 Newspaper, The Lane Warrior 1984 September 25
Box 8 Folder 4 Newspaper, The Lane Warrior 1984 October 26
Box 8 Folder 4 Newspaper, The Lane Warrior 1984 November 14
Box 8 Folder 4 Newspaper, The Lane Warrior 1985 May 23
Box 8 Folder 4 Newspaper, The Lane Warrior 1985 October 25
Box 3 Folder 3 Yearbook, Lane Tech Prep 1924 June
Box 8 Folder 5 Yearbook, Lane Tech Prep 1947 June
Box 3 Folder 4 Yearbook, Lane Tech Prep 1951 January
Box 3 Folder 4 Yearbook, Lane Tech Prep 1952 January
Box 3 Folder 5 Yearbook, Lane Tech Prep 1952 June
Box 3 Folder 6 Yearbook, Lane Tech Prep 1953 June
Box 3 Folder 6 Yearbook, Lane Tech Prep 1954 January
Box 3A Folder 1 Yearbook, Lane Tech Prep 1955 June
Box 3A Folder 2 Yearbook, Lane Tech Prep 1956 January
Box 4 Folder 1 Yearbook, Lane Tech Prep 1957 January
Box 4 Folder 2 Yearbook, Lane Tech Prep 1957 June – 1958 January
Box 4 Folder 3 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1958
Box 4 Folder 4 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1959
Box 4 Folder 5 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1961
Box 4 Folder 6 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1973
Box 5 Folder 1 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1974
Box 5 Folder 2 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1975
Box 5 Folder 3 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1976
Box 6 Folder 1 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1977
Box 6 Folder 2 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1978
Box 6 Folder 3 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1979
Box 7 Folder 1 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1980
Box 7 Folder 2 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1981
Box 7 Folder 3 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1982
Box 8 Folder 1 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1983
Box 8 Folder 2 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1987
Box 8 Folder 3 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 1988
Box 8 Folder 6 Yearbook, The Arrowhead 2007

Series 3: Memorabilia, 1942-1988, undated

Scope and contents

This series mainly contains memorabilia junior and senior proms, along with some buttons from school and alumni events.

Arrangement

Arranged by alphabetically by type of material and then chronologically.

Box 10 Souvenir balloon, 12th Annual International Days Festival undated
Box 9 Souvenir arrow head, Senior Prom 1937 June 9
Box 9 Souvenir booklets, Senior Prom 1937 June 9
Box 10 Souvenir buttons (10) 1983-1984, undated
Box 9 Souvenir pencil caddy, Lane Tech Class of 1975 1975
Box 10 Souvenir booklets, Junior Prom 1983, 1986-1987
Box 10 Souvenir booklets, Senior Prom 1970, 1972-1973, 1975, 1978, 1981-1984, 1987
Box 9 Souvenir glass mug, Class of 1975 1975
Box 9 Souvenir glass jug, Senior Prom 1977
Box 9 Souvenir glass, Senior Prom 1981
Box 9 Souvenir glass mug, Senior Prom 1982
Box 9 Souvenir glass mug, Senior Prom 1983
Box 9 Souvenir glass, Senior Prom 1984 May 24
Box 9 Souvenir glass mug, Senior Prom 1984 May 24
Box 9 Souvenir glass, Junior Prom 1987 May 22
Box 9 Souvenir glass mug, Senior Prom 1985
Box 9 Souvenir glass mug, Senior Prom 1986
Box 10 Souvenir glass mug, Prom 1988
Box 10 Souvenir glass, Prom 1988
Box 10 Souvenir match boxes 1982
Box 10 Souvenir medal, Farewell Promenade 1942 June 17
Box 10 Souvenir necklaces with ring and flag pendants (3) undated
Box 10 Souvenir pink dog undated

 

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