Chicago Vocational High School
(photos by Lee Bey)
About 10 years ago, I wound up at dinner--if you could call it that--with gaggle of wannabe Buppie snoots when the subject of high schools came up. Everybody went around the table, giving forth on the high school they attended. Most of the snoots reported they had gone to the city's prestigious magnet schools. My turn came:
"Chicago Vocational."
The table got so silent, I thought I'd lost my hearing. "I-I-I didn't know you went to CVS," one of the group said, trying to fill the void. She could have very well added, "...you poor Dear" afterward. "Yep," I said proudly. "Cavalier. Blue and Gold. Class of 1983."
Going to CVS, now Chicago Vocational Career Academy, turned out to be one of the best things to happen to me in life. I majored in Print Shop and learned to operate printing presses at 17. For a guy who was a bit of a screw up then, this was a mighty accomplishment that did a lot to get my head on straight again. My senior year English teacher, a guy named Thomas Doyle (I need to track him down because I owe him a debt of thanks) told me I was a pretty good writer and that I should think about journalism as a career. The scales fell from my eyes. I majored in journalism at Columbia College Chicago and had a 13-year print journalism career before joining the mayor's office, followed by a spell at Skidmore Owings & Merrill and now my current position. But it all began at CVS.
Pardon the walk down memory lane. A confluence of things caused it. My 25th year high school reunion is next year; my oldest daughter starts high school next year and over the weekend, I happened to find myself back in the old neighborhood and I stopped off at CVS, 2100 E. 87th Street, to take a few pix.
Built for $3.1 million and completed in 1940 (it says 1938 over the main entrance, but the school was completed w-a-y behind schedule due to a strike on the site), CVS is one of the most architecturally imposing edifices in the city. The wing-shaped complex takes up 23 acres and boasted 400ft-long corridors. The school has 57 two-story shop classroom when it opened; its lunchroom could hold 1,500 students.
CVS was planned as a "great industrial school" and billed as the most modern and best-equipped trade school in the US," as the Tribune reported in 1939. It was designed to train young men--the school didn't go co-ed until 1946--for the Factory Age of the mid 20th century. Students majored in auto shop, woodworking, air conditioning repair, radio technology. Students would be no younger than 16 and rather than getting high school diplomas, graduates would get certificates that would make them eligible to work in their industry. The school's size is a nod to the belief then that there would be an insatiable need for these workers as the decades rolled on. Architects made room for 500 teachers and 6,000 students attending day and evening classes. The US Navy took over the school from June 1942 until April 1946 to train aviation mechanics for the war.
I've always liked the design of CVS exterior: limestone, square-jawed and modern, even down to the abstracted columns that frame the entry and the streamlined columns that line the face of the auditorium in the top photo. The funky modern "Chicago" typeface chiseled into the limestone is a great touch, as are the various medallions and insets showcasing the school's offerings. The federal Public Works Administration paid almost half the cost of the construction and the PWA's modern design aesthetic is evident here.
The school has a smaller student body than it did when I attended, but instruction is still going on. And check out this promotional video of the schoo's offerings. If you headed down the Skyway to Indiana, the massive school unspools itself out of your right-side car window. But don't be satisfied with that drive-by glimpse. Get up close and see.
Comments
I have driven by that building and really liked its style. Thanks for the history lesson.
Posted by: Brian | October 2, 2007 06:46 AM
Lee:
You always have the best photos!
Posted by: Vince | October 12, 2007 07:44 PM
I am doing a research paper on CVS for the year 1991 and would like to know who was the superintendent, principal and vice-principal, chief supervisor office of accredidation, chair of state board of education and state superintendent of education. I attend Chicago State University, as a senior.
Posted by: Rochelle Hardison | October 15, 2007 07:15 PM
Hi Lee! I really liked reading this posting about CVS. I too have those moments where people do not quite know what to say when I reveal where I attened high school. It is always funny giving the "snoots" pause when they find out that someone who is just as articulate and capable as they are attended an inner-city high school! It's soo much fun debunking sterotypes!!!! Keep up the good work!
Proudly representing the class of 1998.
Sam Ingram
Posted by: Sam Ingram | October 31, 2007 10:15 AM
Hi Lee, I enjoyed your article and reading about the old neighborhood and CVS. I grew up at 86th and Euclid, 2 blocks from CVS, back in the 40s & 50s. As I had gone to a Catholic grammar school, my parents sent me to Leo H.S. But I knew a lot of people who went to CVS and just this weekend watched (and enjoyed watching) Illinois beat Ohio State. The Illini quarterback went to CVS. Anyway, thanks for the great pictures of the buildings. Seeing them nearly every day as a kid and not being very turned on by architecture back then, I kind of took the buildings' individualistic design for granted. I really enjoyed being reminded of how impressive Chicago's architecture is, even in local neighborhoods like ours. Thanks for the trip and the memories.
Francis Kelly, South Sider residing in Heidelberg, Germany
Posted by: Francis Kelly | November 16, 2007 12:27 PM
Hi Lee, I enjoyed your article and reading about the old neighborhood and CVS. I grew up at 86th and Euclid, 2 blocks from CVS, back in the 40s & 50s. As I had gone to a Catholic grammar school, my parents sent me to Leo H.S. But I knew a lot of people who went to CVS and just this weekend watched (and enjoyed watching) Illinois beat Ohio State. The Illini quarterback went to CVS. Anyway, thanks for the great pictures of the buildings. Seeing them nearly every day as a kid and not being very turned on by architecture back then, I kind of took the buildings' individualistic design for granted. I really enjoyed being reminded of how impressive Chicago's architecture is, even in local neighborhoods like ours. Thanks for the trip and the memories.
Francis Kelly, South Sider residing in Heidelberg, Germany
Posted by: Francis Kelly | November 16, 2007 12:29 PM
Great pics & congrats on your accomplishments. The Jan/Jun class of 1957 had our 50th reunion this last October & took a tour thru the Palace. classes have changed, not so many shops but the school is alive & well. We had 350 attendees from all over the country. hope we can do it again.
Posted by: Jim Willford | November 23, 2007 03:12 PM
Hi Lee.
I attended my fifty year reunion last October fourth 2007, Had a terrific time and rekindled old friendships. Took a tour of the school, met some of the teachers. Had lunch afterwards and that evening attended a dinner at the Double Tree Hotel in Alsip
Would like to know if any one has a extra year book for 1957, that they would like to sell.or part with. I lost mine somewhere in moving, I was featured with fellow class mate Brant Loichinger in a full page photo representing the Electric shop. I was told that the year book was done by the print shop and there where possibly none extra.
Found out about you by searching for CVS. on the internet. I am currently living in Gilbert Az. its just east of Phoenix AZ.
Would appreciate a reply to my email address. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: +Thomas Ropacki | January 17, 2008 08:29 PM
THANKS LEE FOR SHARING YOUR PICS AND MEMORIES. I TRULY ENJOYED MY YEARS AT CVS 1984-1988 AND WOULDN'T TRADE THEM FOR THE WORLD. ALTHOUGH I'M A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO AND HAVEN'T BE IN TOUCH, I STILL HOLD MY FRIENDS CLOSE TO MY HEART AND HOPE THEY ARE ALL AS BLESSED AS I AM. - STAY BLESSED.
Posted by: SONYA BYNUM - FORREST CITY, AR | January 24, 2008 11:49 AM
Thank you for the information and photos of CVS. I can't get enough of them. And thank you for this opportunity you have given us to add our comments.
While visiting "The Palace" in early October, I spoke with a music teacher and she had no recollection of the school's fight song. Indeed, most of the students there had no idea of the rich history of CVS.
I am currently living in Upstate NY.
Posted by: Dan Sternquist | March 2, 2008 11:36 AM