If you wish to submit your memories, please email the Alumni office at GoLaneGo@lanetechalumni.org.
“My husband spoke highly of his work at Lane where his courses were the foundation of his future work. He majored in electrical engineering and graduated from Northwestern Unversity then enlisted in the Navy. After the Navy, he returned to Northwestern and enrolled in its graduate school. He and his fellow professor designed and built the ‘first computer’ at Northwestern. It was built for use in the petroleum, gas and chemical industries. He lived with computers and worked daily in his computer room which challenged his curiosity…..”
-Memories from a wife of a June 1938 graduate
“The Lane student population, to my recollection was said to be around 7600, which when added to the teaching staff numbers, custodial staff and cafeteria staff surely came to 10,000, a number many find unbelievable today. And incidentally matched the number in the rousing marching song that the Lane Tech ‘Invaders Club’ sang, identifying 10,000 mighty marching men, the legionnaires of Lane. The legionnaire’s notation being a reflection of the rumbling war clouds in Europe, and that many of us would soon be engaged in. The June 1940 graduating class turned out to be advertised at 1250… The graduation was held in the International Amphitheater.”
-Memories from a June 1940 graduate
“….One dare not chronicle any time spent at Lane without some mention of the school’s infamous tardy office where just one visit would suffice a lifetime. Mr. Torreyson was in charge and he had the reputation, at any given moment, to erupt like Mt. Vesuvius. One can only imagine my panic when I learned that Mr. Torreyson would be my algebra teacher that semester. Surprise! he was absolutely great! And ever once did he blow his top in class. A gifted teacher and one who knew how to keep a math class interesting and when to step in with a good joke when a student was struggling with a linear equation or even better, break the tension with a story about his experiences in the Army during WWI, which may have also been intended as a prelude to what was in store for us. The very special message he wrote in my yearbook was lost but not in my memory.”
-Memories from a January 1943 graduate
“My third year I had Mr. Boier for model shop. I made a large three-mast sailboat and a three-foot by two-foot case that I had to take home on the Western Ave. streetcar after school. That was a very memorable afternoon and I was lucky to get it home. When you boarded the Western ‘green hornet’ going south, you always made your way to the middle of the car because when you went over the Chicago River at Diversey, the trolley would come off the wire. When the conductor got off to put it back on, some wise guy would shut the door and give the signal to go. After the conductor ran for two blocks to catch up, he would throw off all the guys around the back of the car, guilty or not. .. Discipline was not a problem. Everyone knew the rules; if you stepped on the grass outside you could expect 20 days detention either before or after class depending upon whether or not you had to go to work. Also, the Memorial Garden was sacred ground and no student was allowed to enter it. Today when you tell people that everyone swam nude in swim class, they don’t believe you!”
-Memories from a 1952 graduate
“….As an aeronautical engineering student at the U of I, I was required to take two 3-credit chemistry courses or one 5-credit course. The faculty warned us freshmen to take the 5-credit course only if we had a strong chemistry background from high school. I was confident that Mrs. Roger’s honors chemistry course at Lane had prepared me well, so I enrolled in the 5 -credit course. We had about 300 students in the large lecture and 28 students in my discussion section. When we took the first major exam, I made a stupid error and lost 2 points for a test score of 98. Actually, everything on the exam had been covered at Lane. The next Monday when I attended the discussion section I found that 17 of the 28 students had dropped the course because the exam had been so overwhelming. It was then that I understood what a great education that I had received at Lane.”
-Memories from a 1961 graduate
“The school layout was somewhat complicated to get to the Biology department you have to walk halfway around the school then go up to the fourth floor. Imagine, a briefcase, loaded with books, a T-square and tools for Drafting, gym equipment, and the list went on. That afternoon, when I got home, I told my mother, ‘Mom I don’t know if this school is for me, it is so big and we have to carry around so many things.’ My mother gave me encouragement, telling me what a privilege it was to go to Lane and said, ‘You go there for this year and if you change your mind, you can go to St. Pat’s or Weber or Schurz.’ I stayed at Lane for the whole four years and never regretted the time spent.”
-Memories from a June 1966 graduate
“I was a part of the notable class of 1971 (some may call it infamous). This was one of the last classes that had graduated from an all-male Lane Tech. I attended from autumn of 1967 to 1971, when our notable deviation from tradition included graduation at the Civic Opera House instead of at Lane Tech Stadium. Our high school experience coincided with the 60’s experience; the historical societal changes which pressured us as a new kind of generation at the same time as the pressure of the normal teenage years challenged us. We entered as freshmen with a strict dress code requiring short hair, a clean shave, no sideburns or mustache, a belt for pants that required one, and a shirt with a collar. By graduation time, hairstyles and lengths abounded, and all variants of the clothing spectrum dominated; with plenty of tie-dye included. We saw protests of change, we saw riots, we saw an emboldened nation land a man on the moon, and we were the next candidates to be drafted for the Vietnam war. In total, we saw the emergence of a changing society which valued race, gender, environment, and many other changes. Some people valued the changes, some did not. But they happened and Lane Tech was right in the middle of it all.”
-Memories of a 1971 graduate
“I am currently a Chicago Public Schools teacher who teaches children with low incidence disabilities who are English Language Learners. I am very grateful for the ‘academic discipline’ I developed and nurtured while at Lane. As a result of that discipline, I now hold a bachelors and a Masters of Education-Special Education from the University of Illinois-Chicago….I am also very grateful for meeting Ms. Woods at Lane my freshmen year. She was my algebra teacher who inspired me to reach for the stars and never look back.”
-Memories from a 1985 graduate
“…I am writing to share my wonderful memories of the music department at Lane Tech under the music directors, Eugene Mitofsky (Concert and Marching Band) and John Cina (Orchestra). From 1992-1996, I attended Lane Tech and quickly declared a major in music by the end of my freshmen year. What started as a hobby of playing the clarinet in 6th grade, turned into a four-year love of music which was honed and fined tuned at Lane Tech. I began as a member of the Marching Band, and then allowed both the Concert Band and Orchestra to come into my life…..I even met my future husband in the Marching Band…To this day, I truly believe my fellow bandmates’ support is what helped tip the scales in my favor to win Homecoming Queen..”
-Memories from a 1996 graduate
“….My brother and I were the first generation of children to be in America after my family moved here from Mexico. My brother was the first to learn English in our family and was the valedictorian in his grammar school. He was accepted into Lane Tech and graduated in 1998. I was the second oldest and learned everything I knew from my older brother. I also graduated valedictorian from my grammar school and was accepted into Lane with all honors classes. I graduated in 2003 and am now an accountant. My husband also attended Lane and graduated in 2003. I was a football manager and he was on the varsity football team.”
-Memories from a 2003 graduate