Misplaced Pages

Richard T. Crane Medical Prep High School (formerly known as Crane Tech Prep or Crane Tech High School) is a public four-year medical prep high school located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The school is operated by the Chicago Public Schools district. Crane is named for businessman Richard T. Crane. Beginning with the 2012–13 school year, the school transitioned to a medical preparatory high school, partnering with Rush Hospital, City Colleges Of Chicago, and University of Illinois at Chicago.

History

Crane was founded as a males-only school at 12th Street and Michigan Avenue in 1890. It was originally known as the English High and Manual Training School. In 1903, the school moved to its present location and was renamed in honor of businessman Richard T. Crane. When the school went co-ed in 1954, it began to de-emphasize its "technical" label, though it continued to offer courses like auto shop and drafting. Between 1911 and 1969, the school shared its building with Crane College, the first junior college in Chicago. The college moved out in 1969 and is now known as Malcolm X College. On November 30, 2011, Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard announced that Crane, along with several other schools, would either be closed or phased out. Under this plan, Crane would remain open but no longer accept freshman students, who would be routed instead to either Wells, Manley, Marshall, or Farragut. In April 2012, however, Brizard announced that Crane would be retained and redeveloped into a health sciences high school. Crane High School previously housed Chicago Talent Development Charter High School during the 2012-13 academic year, prior to Chicago Talent's closure the following year.

Academics

Crane High School is rated a 3 out of 10 by GreatSchools.org, a national school quality information site. GreatSchools’ Summary Rating is based on four of the school’s themed ratings: the Test Score Rating, Student or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, and Equity Rating and flags for discipline and attendance disparities at a school.

Athletics

Crane became a charter member of the Chicago Public League in 1913. Since then, it has won eleven city titles in boys' basketball (1921, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1940, 1957, 1964, 1968, 1972, 2003). The school has produced a number of professional basketball players (see below).

Notable alumni

• Berle Adams was a music executive and founder of Mercury Records
• Harry Aleman was a mobster and feared enforcer for the Chicago Outfit
• Tony Allen is an NBA player
• Cory Blackwell is a former NBA player (1984–85), who played for the Seattle SuperSonics
• Milt Bocek was an MLB player (Chicago White Sox)
• Will Bynum (born 1983) was an NBA player and 2007 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP
• Lou Chirban (1930–2008) was an MLB pitcher, one of the first five white players to join the Negro American League
• Sherron Collins played basketball for the University of Kansas
• Martin Cooper invented the handheld cell phone and made the first portable cellular phone call on April 3, 1973
• Chaz Ebert attorney and businesswoman. 1969 Crane High School graduate
• Milt Galatzer was an MLB player (Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds)
• Charles M. Goodman, FAIA (1906–1992) was a master architect of modern architecture
• Robert F. "Ace" Gruenig (1913–1958) was a basketball player during the 1930s and 1940s. On August 11, 1963, Gruenig was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
• George Halas was a professional football player, professional baseball player, coach, executive, and pioneer of the NFL. He led the Chicago Bears to six NFL championships, and was a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
• Richard Hamming (1915–1998), was a computer pioneer in error correction code, mathematician on the Manhattan Project, and winner of Turing Award. He graduated from Crane in 1933.
• Walter J. Hamming (1911–1975), was a meteorologist for the Army Air Corp in World War II who supported the June 6 1944 Normandy invasion and later worked for the Los Angeles Air Quality Management District where he established the chemical relationship of smog and automobile emissions and advocated automotive industry accountability.
• J. Allen Hynek was a professor of astronomy at Northwestern University. He was considered an expert on the subject of UFO phenomena. A former investigator for Project Blue Book, he invented the close encounter scale (first kind, second kind, third kind).
• Shirley M. Jones (1939–2016), Illinois state legislator
• John Kenerson was a professional football player
• Carol D. Lee is a professor, educational researcher, school director and author.
• LeRoy Martin, Chicago police officer who served as the second African-American superintendent of the Chicago Police Department (1987–1992).
• Joseph M. Mleziva, farmer and Wisconsin state legislatore
• Edward Nedza, Illinois state legislator and businessman
• Ken Norman is a former NBA forward (1987–97) who starred for the University of Illinois. He played most of his career with the Los Angeles Clippers, who drafted him in the first round of the 1987 NBA draft.
• Chris Pelekoudas was a Major League Baseball umpire
• Joe Reiff was a three-time All-American basketball player at Northwestern
• Wally Ris was a swimmer who won two gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics
• William "Bill" Shaw, politician, noted as the first African-American to serve as mayor of Dolton, Illinois
• Robert Shaw, politician
• Sam Sibert was a basketball player and second-round pick in 1972 NBA draft
• Lou Skizas is a former MLB player (New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox)
• Sammy Skobel was a member of the Roller Derby Hall of Fame
• Andre Wakefield is a former NBA player (1978–80)
• Verdine White of Earth Wind and Fire group. 1969 Crane High School graduate
• Philip Shapiro Lesly, class of 1936, was editor of the Crane student newspaper, then the only daily high school newspaper in the U.S. Went on to Northwestern (editor of Daily Northwestern) and then a long career as an author and public relations theorist. The Philip Lesly Co. was among the largest U.S. pr agencies in the 1960s and 1970s.

References

1. "High School Code Search". College Board. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
2. ^ "Chicago (Crane)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 31 December 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
3. "Institution Summary for Crane High School". AdvancED profile. North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
4. "Chicago Public Schools". Chicago Public Schools. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
5. ^ David Southwell. "Crane polishes tarnished image". Chicago Sun-Times. December 4, 1991.
6. "Children back to the schools". Chicago Tribune. September 8, 1903. 10.
7. "Top floor work starts on Malcolm X building". Chicago Tribune. September 21, 1969. W4.
8. Rossi, Rosalind (2011-11-30). "Crane, Dyett high schools to be phased out in CPS shake-up". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2012-01-02. Retrieved 2016-12-25.
9. Monica Staton. "CPS changes mind on Crane, wants health sciences school Archived 2012-04-10 at the Wayback Machine". Gazette Chicago. April 5, 2012. Retrieved on July 6, 2012.
10. "Best High Schools in Chicago, IL | GreatSchools". GreatSchools.org. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
11. IHSA CPL Boys Basketball Champions. 2008. Retrieved on September 9, 2008.
12. "City crown belongs to Crane - Cougars overpower Julian at United Center". Chicago Sun-Times. February 23, 2008.
13. "Tony Allen". statistics and biographic information. Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
14. "Cory Blackwell". statistics and biographic information. Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
15. "Milt Bocek Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
16. "Will Bynum". statistics and biographic information. Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
17. Tribune staff (July 18, 1950). "Monarchs Face Chicago Giants". South Bend Tribune. p. 12. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
18. Powers, Scott (13 June 2005), "It's academic for Crane's Collins", Chicago Sun-Times, p. 101
19. Misplaced Pages - Martin Cooper
20. "Milt Galatzer Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
21. "Subdivisions and Architecture Planned and Designed by Charles M. Goodman Associates in Montgomery County, Maryland" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
22. ^ "Crane Facts", Chicago Sun-Times, p. 94, 4 December 1991
23. "Biography - J. Allen Hynek (1910-1986)", J. Allen Hynek Papers at Northwestern University Archives, series 11/3/5/6 (Box 1): 1, 2002, retrieved 5 September 2010, Josef Allen Hynek was born May 1, 1910 in Chicago to Czechoslovakian parents. He graduated from Crane Technical High School in 1927 and went on to the University of Chicago ...
24. Shirley Jones, former State Rep, passes away
25. 'Illinois Blue Book 1985-1986,' Biographical Sketch of Edward Nedza, pg. 68
26. Porter, David L. (2005). Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 0-313-30952-3.p. 391
27. "Andre Wakefield". statistics and biographic information. Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 9 September 2008.

External links

• Chicago Public Schools directory listing

• Public high schools in Chicago
• Educational institutions established in 1890
• 1890 establishments in Illinois