Richard T. Crane Medical Prep High School (formerly known as Crane Tech Prep or Crane Tech High School) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
4–year
medical prep high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
located in the
Near West Side neighborhood of
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, United States. The school is operated by the
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles.
...
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
Rush University Medical Center (Rush) is an academic medical center in the Illinois Medical District neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship hospital for the Rush University System for Health, which includes Rush Oak Park Hospital a ...
,
City Colleges Of Chicago
The City Colleges of Chicago is the public community college system of the Chicago area. Its colleges offer associate degrees, certificates, free courses for the GED, and free English as a second language (ESL) courses.
The City Colleges system ...
, and
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a Public university, public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus esta ...
.
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.
[David Southwell. "Crane polishes tarnished image". ''Chicago Sun-Times''. December 4, 1991.] 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
Malcolm X College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, is a two-year college located on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It was founded as Crane Junior College in 1911 and was the first of the City Colleges. Crane ceased operations at ...
, the first junior college
A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...
in Chicago. The college moved out in 1969 and is now known as Malcolm X College
Malcolm X College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, is a two-year college located on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It was founded as Crane Junior College in 1911 and was the first of the City Colleges. Crane ceased operations at th ...
. On November 30, 2011, Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles.
...
CEO Jean-Claude Brizard
Jean-Claude Brizard (born January 12, 1963) is an American former school superintendent. He served as chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools from 2011 to 2012. Directly before coming to Chicago, Brizard served as the superintendent of th ...
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
Wells most commonly refers to:
* Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England
* Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground
* Wells (name)
Wells may also refer to:
Places Canada
*Wells, British Columbia
England
* Wells ...
, Manley, Marshall
Marshall may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria
Canada
* Marshall, Saskatchewan
* The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia
Liberia
* Marshall, Liberia
Marshall Islands
* Marshall Islands, an i ...
, 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.
Athletics
Crane became a charter member of the Chicago Public League
The Chicago Public High School Athletic Association, commonly known as the Chicago Public League (CPL), is the interscholastic competition arm of the Chicago Public Schools. The governance of the CPL is set through the Department of Sports Admini ...
in 1913.[ Since then, it has won eleven city titles in boys' ]basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
(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
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
* Harry Aleman
Harry "The Hook" Aleman (January 19, 1939 – May 15, 2010) was a Chicago mobster who was one of the most feared enforcers for the Chicago Outfit during the 1970s. Aleman got the nickname "Hook" from his boxing career in high school. He is also ...
was a mobster and feared enforcer for the Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, tha ...
* Tony Allen is an NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
player
* Cory Blackwell
Cory Blackwell (born March 27, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the second round (28th pick overall) of the 1984 NBA draft. A 6'6" forward from the University of Wisconsin†...
is a former NBA player (1984–85), who played for the Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...
* Milt Bocek was an MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player (Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
)
* Will Bynum
William Bynum (born January 4, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Arizona and Georgia Tech before going undrafted in the 2005 NBA draft. He was the 2007 Israeli Basketbal ...
(born 1983) was an NBA player and 2007 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP
The Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP, or Israeli Basketball Super League MVP, is an annual basketball award that is presented to the most valuable player in a given season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is the top-tier lev ...
* Lou Chirban
Louis John Chirban (August 26, 1930 – December 5, 2008)Louis John Chirban
Negro American League
The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season.
Negro American League franchises
:''An ...
* Sherron Collins
Sherron Marlon Collins (born March 18, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Kansas City Tornados of the NAPB (NAPB). He formerly played for the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Associat ...
played basketball for the University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
* Martin Cooper invented the handheld cell phone and made the first portable cellular phone call on April 3, 1973
*Chaz Ebert
Chaz Ebert (born Charlie Hammel; October 15, 1952) is an American attorney and businesswoman.
Early life and education
Ebert was born in Chicago to Johnnie Hobbs Hammel and Wiley Hammel Sr. She attended Crane Technical High School in Chicago. S ...
attorney and businesswoman. 1969 Crane High School graduate
* Milt Galatzer was an MLB player (Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
, Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
)
* Robert F. "Ace" Gruenig (1913-1958) was a basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player during the 1930s and 1940s. On August 11, 1963, Gruenig was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...
.
* George Halas
George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chic ...
was a professional football player, professional baseball player, coach, executive, and pioneer of the NFL. He led the Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
to six NFL championships
Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...
, and was a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
in 1963.
* Richard Hamming
Richard Wesley Hamming (February 11, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American mathematician whose work had many implications for computer engineering and telecommunications. His contributions include the Hamming code (which makes use of a Ha ...
(1915-1998), who graduated from Crane in 1933 was a computer pioneer in error correction code
In computing, telecommunication, information theory, and coding theory, an error correction code, sometimes error correcting code, (ECC) is used for controlling errors in data over unreliable or noisy communication channels. The central idea is ...
, mathematician on the Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
, and winner of Turing Award
The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in compu ...
.
* J. Allen Hynek was a professor of astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
at Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
. He was considered an expert on the subject of UFO phenomena. A former investigator for Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book was the code name for the systematic study of unidentified flying objects by the United States Air Force from March 1952 to its termination on December 17, 1969. The project, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, O ...
, he invented the close encounter
In ufology, a close encounter is an event in which a person witnesses an unidentified flying object. This terminology and the system of classification behind it were first suggested in astronomer and UFO researcher J. Allen Hynek's 1972 book ''T ...
scale (first kind, second kind, third kind).
* Shirley M. Jones (1939-2016), Illinois state legislator
* John Kenerson
John D. Kenerson (March 18, 1938 – December 6, 1995) was an American football defensive lineman who played in the National Football League (NFL), American Football League (AFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1960 to 1965. He played coll ...
was a professional football player
* Carol D. Lee is a professor, educational researcher, school director and author.
*LeRoy Martin
LeRoy Martin (1929 − August 31, 2013) was an American police officer for the Chicago Police Department. In November 1987, Martin became the third African-American and second permanent to serve as superintendent of the department, following t ...
, Chicago police officer who served as the second African-American superintendent of the Chicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...
(1987-1992).
* Joseph M. Mleziva, farmer and Wisconsin state legislatore
* Edward Nedza, Illinois state legislator and businessman
* Ken Norman
Kenneth Darnel Norman (born September 5, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. After graduating from Crane High School in Chicago, Kenny was an outstanding forward for the Illinois Fighting Illini who was selected 19th overa ...
is a former NBA forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
(1987–97) who starred for the University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
. He played most of his career with the Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
, who drafted him in the first round of the 1987 NBA Draft.
* Chris Pelekoudas
Christos George Pelekoudas (January 23, 1918 – November 30, 1984) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1960 to 1975.
Early life
Born in Chicago into a family of 14 children, Pelekoudas graduat ...
was a Major League Baseball umpire
* Joe Reiff was a three-time All-American basketball player at Northwestern
* Wally Ris
Walter Steven Ris (January 4, 1924 – December 25, 1989) was an American competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and world record-holder.
Ris won two gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England.Sports-Reference.com, Olym ...
was a swimmer who won two gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...
* William "Bill" Shaw, politician, noted as the first African-American to serve as mayor of Dolton, Illinois
Dolton (pronounced "DAWL-ton") is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,426 at the 2020 census. Dolton is located just west of the expressway Interstate 94 and immediately south of the city limits of Chicago. Its ...
* Robert Shaw, politician
* Sam Sibert was a basketball player and second-round pick in 1972 NBA draft
* Lou Skizas
Louis Peter Skizas (born June 2, 1932) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and third baseman in Major League Baseball from 1956 through 1959 for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox. ...
is a former MLB player (New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
, Kansas City Athletics
The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...
, Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
, Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
)
* Sammy Skobel was a member of the Roller Derby Hall of Fame The Roller Derby Hall of Fame, also known as the National Roller Derby Hall of Fame, was founded in 1952,William H. Young and Nancy K. Young, ''World War II and the Postwar Years in America'', p.596 by the editors of the ''Roller Derby News'' paper. ...
* Andre Wakefield
Andre Wakefield (born January 1, 1955) is a retired American professional basketball player. He was a 6'2½" (189 cm) 175 lb (79 kg) guard. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he played high school basketball at Crane High School and co ...
is a former NBA player (1978–80)
* Verdine White
Verdine Adams White (born July 25, 1951) is an American musician, best known as a founding member and bassist for the band Earth, Wind & Fire. White was placed at No. 19 on Rolling Stone's list of The 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time.
Early lif ...
of Earth Wind and Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million reco ...
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 Phlip Lesly Co. was among the largest U.S. pr agencies in the 1960s and 1970s.
References
External links
Chicago Public Schools directory listing
{{authority control
Public high schools in Chicago
Educational institutions established in 1890
1890 establishments in Illinois