Vancouver Technical High School
1921 - current day
Marega relief panel over Technical School entrance, photo G. Sim Sept. 21 2022
1924 Vancouver Technical School rifle corps
Image from the 1931 issue of VANTECH
Cover image of the 1933 issue of VANTECH, by Milton A. Parsons
Marketing item tipped into 1933 issue of VANTECH
Cover image of the 1934 manual on linoleum cutting and printing, by Milton A. Parsons
Original linocut by Sing Lim in
1933 VANTECH
The Technical School was founded under the auspices of the
Vancouver School Board in 1921.
The school provided training in a wide range
of industrial and commercial skills, including typesetting, printing,
linocuts, and advertising illustration. In 1946 building construction,
lumbering, and mining were added.
Reproduction of portrait by Cameron Ramsay in
1933 VANTECH
There were 400 founding students, who had been housed in the old
King Edward High School at the corner of 12th and Oak. They moved
downtown to a new Technical School on Dunsmuir Street at Homer, housed
in a building known as the Labour Temple. In 1928 the school
moved to a new building by architects Townley and Matheson at Broadway and
Clinton, its current address. Sculptor Charles Marega
was comissioned to do a relief panel above the school's main entrance.
The Girl's Technical School opened at the same location in 1940.
Original colour linocuts by Robert Banks in 1939 VANTECH
Original cartoon by Robert Banks in 1939 VANTECH
Original linocut by Robert Beaton in 1939 VANTECH
Original four-colour linocuts by Sing Lim in
1939 VANTECH
One long-time teacher at the school was
Lewis Elliot, who not only taught linocut
printing but also published a manual on the subject in 1934. Student
linocuts were frequently published in the school annual VANTECH,
published and printed by the students at the school.
Cover image of the 1946 issue of VANTECH
Original linocut print by Margaret Hannum in 1946 VANTECH
Original linocut print by John McKitch in 1946 VANTECH
Original linocut print by Terry McGuire in 1946 VANTECH
The 1946 issue of VANTECH noted on the list of School
Staff that J.W.G. Macdonald was
in charge of the Design Workshop at the school.
Original linocut print in 1946 VANTECH
The military history of the Technical School, and indeed of all
Vancouver High Schools, is a little known story. Every high school
had its own rifle corps, all students armed with war surplus
army rifles, typically Ross Mark 1 .303 bolt action repeaters with peep
sights. In the 1928-29 school year, the Vancouver Technical School
Cadet corps alone had an enrollment of 750 students. In 1932 their rifle
team ranked 1st in BC, 5th in Canada, and 10th in the Dominion in
various classes.
Staff photograph in 1946 VANTECH
The 1946 annual included an honour roll of the school's
students who had served in the armed forces during World War Two. It
lists an amazing total of 1,409 students on the Roll, of whom
125 were killed in action, 31 missing, 74 wounded, 9 prisoners of
war, and 34 decorated. The students noted that "this list is by
no means complete" and requested additions or corrections.
References
VANCOUVER CITY SCHOOLS - TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT 1925
23rd Annual Report; Published by the Board of School Trustees, City of Vancouver
136 pages illustrated; soft cover with drawing by Charles H. Scott
Includes School of Decorative and Applied Arts Report by
G.T. Sharp page 95,
Also includes Drawing Report by S.P. Judge page 85.
Art school references pages 10, 19, 26, art class photos pages 96 and 97
Also complete statistics on students, attendance, buildings, teachers, courses, etc.
THE VANTECH - JUNE 1933
Printed by the students of the Vancouver Technical School
88 pages, stapled, illust. colour/b&w.
Includes a number of original student linocut prints by
artists including Sing Lim.
LINO BLOCKS: A HANDBOOK FOR STUDENT PRINTERS by
L.A. Elliott
Published by Vancouver Technical School, 1934.
VANTECH - EASTER 1939
Printed by the students of the Vancouver Technical School
84 pages, stapled, illust. colour/b&w.
Includes a number of original student linocut prints by
Robert Banks and Sing Lim.
VANTECH 1946 - TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
Printed by the students of the Vancouver Technical School
90 pages, stapled, illust. colour/b&w.
Includes a number of original student linocut prints.
Includes references to L.A. Elliott
participation in the Cadet Corps.
Clippings
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