School buildings are vitally important in American lives, yet largely invisible in the landscape of architectural studies. The schoolhouse’s significance cannot be overestimated in a country where education is not only compulsory, but is also an integral part of the national self-image. Between the ages of five and eighteen, the average American child spends more time in a school building than in any other single place outside the home. With The Chicago Schoolhouse Dale Gyure fills a void in the architectural and educational records by examining the physical structures where formal education happens and by drawing connections between school architecture and educational reform.
Centered on an analysis of Chicago school buildings at the high school level, this study seeks to illuminate nationwide developments and explain how we have arrived at the current state of school architecture. It will be of great value to those interested in architectural history and the cultural history of secondary education.