Whether it be the three times the Von Trapp family performed on an LT stage, jazz great Duke Ellington playing for the Class of ‘52 prom, or pilot Amelia Earhart’s speech to students, the school has had countless shining moments. Growing from a graduating class of seven in 1891 to nearly 1,000 in the present day, LT is a renowned building with a strong institutional legacy. 

To keep the history of NC alive, art teacher Patrick Page has taken up the responsibility of “building historian” by researching the campus on his own time and giving tours to staff. After teaching AP Art History in room N333, the last room still existing that was furnished before World War II, Page was immediately enthralled. 

“They don’t build buildings like this anymore. Everyone dreams to find art with a great story behind it or great value,” Page said. “We have that in the historical features of our building and the unbelievable history of our school.” 

Together, he and his students work to unfold LT’s history, Page said. Despite very limited information about the history of LT on the internet or Lagrange history books, research has been done using first-person documents including the LION Newspaper, Tabulae yearbook, and old school board minutes to learn more about the past. 

“Nearly all of our research has been things you can’t google: the LION, the yearbooks, the original Board of Education minutes, our archives, and those at the La Grange Area Historical Society and the La Grange Library,”  Page said.

One of LT’s less-known features is the Parthenon Frieze gallery, which welcomes people into the Reber Center. Plaster casts from the Greek monument line the hallway, older than the ones found in the British Museum. Lorado Taft (1860-1936), a vital figure in Chicago art, told LT that installing a Frieze gallery would be a good idea, Page said. This gallery was seen as a welcoming and community gathering place before the Sunday Evening Club. The Sunday Evening Club was an event hosted for nearly two decades in the wintertime; famous people came to speak including Calvin Coolidge’s sitting vice president and Earhart. 

“The Parthenon Frieze Gallery was created as a space where the community comes together before going to events in the Community Room or Reber Center,” Page said. “The idea of the Parthenon Frieze gallery is that, yes, it shows higher culture, but more specifically the frieze shows the city of Athens coming together and in parallel also represents the people of LT’s community coming together.”

One hundred years ago, LT spent 15 years making a major plan for the future of LT’s design. With the quality they provided, it has lasted us into the present day. 

“Right now we are rethinking spaces,” Page said. “In this effort, why not touch back and show our pride in our school’s history? If the Parthenon Frieze Gallery was restored, we would see the difference immediately in how powerful the space is.”

Caring about the history of LT is important because buildings like this are not made anymore, he said. Money is not spent on detailed craftsmanship like it was pre-World War II.

“LT has already invested in creating these features, so why not preserve them and show them off?” Page said. “For what we have, why shouldn’t LT be on the map for a preservation award like Joliet Central? We should be proud of the amazing things we have.”