I attended Lane Technical High School back before it was Lane Tech College Prep. We still went to college. We just didn't have a name that told people we were supposed to. Now they have that name. In any case, I joined the alumni association a few years ago. It was not very expensive, and I got to keep track of what was happening. Not a bad deal.
My "not bad" deal turned afirmatively good when I got an invitation to an open house at the school. It actually invited me and Kate, and said something like "come and see the school and show them that all of your stories really did happen." That was exactly what we needed, since I have a lot of Lane stories. Kate and I went to the open house camera in hand. Not all of the pictures are masterpieces, but here they are.
The Auditorium
When I was at Lane the fire curtain in the auditorium was a very 1970s geometric pattern. It was not very noticeable. However, in the 1990s the school undertook a restoration of the original fire curtain. Apparently this Indian picture was underneath the geometric pattern that entire time. By the way, the school mascot is the Indians, which not only explains this motif, but also means that from the time I was a freshman in high school I have always attended institutions with Native American nicknames.
Me and my compatriots spent many, many hours in the auditorium. We had most of our study halls in here. In fact, I once assembled a fish skeleton with superglue in the back left of the picture above on the right (lower level). We also published an April Fool's edition of the Indian that said that the school (which was always broke) had decided to turn the auditorium into a first run movie theater and was closing it to students. It was not so crazy, since there are ticket booths in the lobby.
The Library
I can't even pretend that I spent very much time in the library. As a freshman I was a disaster as a student and did not ever go to the library. Later in my academic career I used the library at DePaul University a lot, as well as the regional outlets of the Chicago Public Library. Nevertheless, the library is its own work of art.
This woodcut is on the west wall of the library. I know that it is entitled something like Controlling the Elements. As any of you who came here from WAYLA know, I think it is the early superhero prototypes. In any case, this is all 1930s WPA work. In high school we all enjoyed the irony that our school was packed with art that looked as if the Soviets had commissioned it. Especially since we were in high school for almost all of Reagan's second term (1985-1989). Below are details of three of the panels.
The two painings are on the stairways that lead to the library balcony. I know that the one on the left is a scene from Robin Hood, with various characters in the painting. That makes sense, I guess, as Young Adult Literature. The other painting . . . I have no idea. Perhaps it is from a book that has fallen out of favor. Frankly, it kind of looks like the sort of scene I expect to see on velvet, but it is a beautiful piece of art for a high school library.
Below is the woodcut on the east wall of the library. It may be the history of printing. I am not sure. I was so smitten with Mr. Electricity and his ilk that I did not pay the attention I should have to this side. And so it goes.
The Lunchroom
Lane is so full of art that they filled the lunchroom with it too. I always suspected that graduates from prior eras were better educated and understood better what these frescoes were supposed to represent. As near as I can (or could) tell, they tell the story of labor being enslaved by the bosses. Certainly an appropriate WPA topic, but perhaps not what the school board intended us to take away from the art. Of course, judging by the careers of a number of my classmates, we got the message and became bosses ASAP.
The left side has the frescoes that were always more striking to me, so there are a couple of detail shots of those. In the first, I have always feared for the sheep.
Of course, the frescoes are not the only representations of a bygone world in the lunchroom. I did not know what the "proper line" was in 1986, and I don't know in 2006, but the sign endures. In the meantime, I think Dr. Who may have used that phone booth.
The Hallways
Yes, they filled the hallways with art too. Not just art, but super Soviet 1930s art. Lane is also known as the School of Champions. Our championship plaques (not one of which did I have anything to do with at all) are strung around the first floor.
The frescoes for Lumber, Missouri, Silver, and South Dakota are below. These are all over the first floor and represent states and/or products. What they all have in common is that they represent the might of Labor.
The plaques are harder to photograph than I thought they would be. There are literally hundreds of them. Football, baseball, chess, volleyball, you name, they are up there. A few are visible above in the Lumber picture. Here are a few more.
The Quirks
Lane has a memorial garden in the middle of the building. This is nice because it meant that essentially every room in the school had natural light and at least the possibility of fresh air. It also has some cool statuary.
One of the nasty things that the school did was its numbering system. Kate never believed me, but the rooms on the west side of the building are even numbered rooms, while those of the east side are odd. Do you know why? Me neither. I suspect it was elaborate hazing. By the way, in front of the main office, across from the discipline office (i.e. a place many students avoided) they placed two signs, one of which is below. Very nice.
Flashbacks
First, we all had to share lockers for four years at Lane. I swear Pat Carroll's gym clothes looked exactly like this for the entire time we were in high school. Good thing he made up for it by being a good guy...
Second, shots like this always remind me that even at this huge school, over four stories, we always had pretty strictly enforced four minute passing periods. This is a short hall, looking north. Nothing was worse than my freshman swim class in the first floor northwest corner of the building 8th period and my Algebra class in the third floor southeast corner of the building 9th period. BRUTAL!
