Coordinates: 41°16′0.59″N 95°57′36.26″W / 41.2668306°N 95.9600722°W / 41.2668306; -95.9600722 Technical High School was a public high school that was located at 3215 Cuming Street in Omaha, Nebraska. Opened in 1923, the school was said to be the largest high school west of Chicago. It was the largest in the Omaha area before it was closed in 1984. Today the building serves as the headquarters of Omaha Public Schools.

[edit] About

The five-winged building and large athletic field occupied 3 city blocks between Burt and Cuming Streets, from 30th to 33rd Streets in North Omaha. The new school opened on October 15, 1923, with nearly 2,400 pupils. By 1940 enrollment had reached 3,684.^[1]

As a high school focused on technical education, Tech had many amenities designed to teach students in specific areas. For athletics, there were 2 large gymnasiums and a swimming pool, which was for many years the only pool in any Omaha public school. The roof of the building featured a deck with a canopy that housed an exercise area.

For home economics there was an entire floor dedicated to classrooms. There were extensive wood and metal shops, as well as scientific laboratories, and a greenhouse. The building had 124 rooms. As early as 1947, there were 2,700 students and 100 teachers. Developed with high academic standards the school was a forerunner in vocational high schools by offering students that largely choose not to continue on to college the opportunity to learn a trade or profession.

There was a high school radio station at Tech in the 1920s, whose call letters were KFOX.

The auditorium at the school was built to accommodate 2600 people. John Philip Sousa and his marching band appeared in October 1928. Cornelia Otis Skinner made her first high school appearance at Tech in January 1930. In November 1926 the Metropolitan Opera Company of New York gave a performance. Helen Hayes and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. also gave performances at Tech.^[2]

[edit] Present

After the school closed in 1984, the building was completely renovated for use as the Omaha Public Schools central office. It also serves as a home for the Career Center and Adult Education programs, serving 700-plus students daily.^[3]

Opera Omaha performed at Tech before they had facilities at the Orpheum Theater.^[4]

[edit] Notable graduates

• Johnny Rodgers, college football superstar, Heisman Trophy winner, and voted the University of Nebraska's "Player of the Century."
• Thomas Warren, Omaha's first African American police chief
• Captain Alfonza W. Davis, Tuskegee Airman
• US Senator Roman Hruska
• Omaha Mayor Johnny Rosenblatt
• Omaha Mayor James Dworak
• Omaha Police Chief C. Harold Ostler
• A.F. Jacobson, former president of Northwestern Bell
• Eugene Skinner, Omaha District’s first black teacher who rose to the position of Assistant Superintendent.
• Les Webster, college and professional football player for the Cincinnati Bengals
• Phil Wise, college and professional football player for the New York Jets
• Bob Boozer, college and professional basketball player and Olympic Gold Medalist in 1960
• Ron Boone, professional basketball player
• Bob Gibson, Baseball Hall of Famer for the St. Louis Cardinals and Creighton University stand-out.
• Jim Houston, national rodeo champion
• Lucille Wilson, three times United States women’s track team in the Olympics.
• Ray Novak, college football player
• Mel Harder, professional baseball player
• Fred Hare, college and professional basketball player
• Louis Hartz, an American political scientist and influential proponent of the idea of American exceptionalism.

[edit] Notable staff

Neal Mosser was a college basketball and baseball player who went on to coach some of the greatest names in Omaha sports history at Tech, including Fred Hare, Bob Boozer and Bob Gibson. Dutch White was a remarkable track and field coach for 25+ years.

[edit] See also

• Education in North Omaha, Nebraska

[edit] References

1. ^ (n.d.) History of Tech High. Gifford Park Neighborhood Association.
2. ^ Gifford Park Neighborhood Ass't
3. ^ (n.d.) About Technical High School
4. ^ History of Opera Omaha.

[edit] External links

• Historic picture of Technical High School
• Historical postcard of Tech H.S.

[edit] Related publications

• Brookins, J. (1925) "Drama in a Technical High School," Peabody Journal of Education. 2(4) pp. 190-196