{"id":611449,"date":"2026-04-28T15:16:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/611449\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T15:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:16:17","slug":"photographer-unveils-photos-of-cps-students-in-the-70s-are-you-in-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/611449\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographer Unveils Photos Of CPS Students In The ’70s \u2014 Are You In Them?"},"content":{"rendered":"

HUMBOLDT PARK \u2014 Working as a substitute teacher and photographer in the 1970s, Susan Fell-Lazar brought her camera to work, capturing many students in classrooms and playing with friends.<\/p>\n

But Fell-Lazar never released those photos \u2014\u00a0until now.<\/p>\n

Fell-Lazar \u2014 a substitute teacher for Chicago Public Schools on the North, Northwest and West sides between 1970-1978 \u2014 used her Leica camera as a \u201ccreative solution\u201d to get through challenging situations in the classroom, resulting in over 100 black-and-white candid prints on 35-millimeter film.<\/p>\n

The Highland Park-based former teacher and documentary photographer, who closed her darkroom 20 years ago and has been digitizing her photography collection, has always been curious about the kids she captured. Now that over 50 years have passed since her classroom photos were taken, she\u2019s hoping to identify some of the students, reconnect with them and give them prints of their younger selves if they wish, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, they would be adults \u2026 with kids of their own. \u2026 I have always wondered what became of them,\u201d Fell-Lazar said.<\/p>\n

\"\"A group of children at a Northwest Side school in the 1970s stand in line for a photo inside a classroom. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

Fell-Lazar worked in about 40 elementary schools on the Northwest Side, including Chopin; Yates; Lafayette, now Chicago High School for the Arts; and the closed Von Humboldt, which is being turned into teacher apartments<\/a>. She often brought her camera with her and photographed kids being silly, serious and everything in between, she said.<\/p>\n

Photos also include students from Chase Elementary School in Logan Square, 2021 N. Point St., dressing up in celebration of the Puerto Rican parade in June 1973. Fell-Lazar got permission to document the students at the request of her cousin, a Chase teacher who wanted her to take photos as the kids were preparing to attend the parade, she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"A Chase Elementary School student poses for a photo in preparation for the Puerto Rican parade celebrations in June 1973. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

\"\"A Chase Elementary School student poses for a photo in preparation for the Puerto Rican parade celebrations in June 1973. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

\"\"Chase Elementary School students dress up in preparation for the Puerto Rican parade in June 1973. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

Looking back on the photos now, Fell-Lazar noticed more details about those memories and time in the classrooms, some of which she didn\u2019t realize she captured 50 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the subtle things going on between kids that I didn\u2019t notice before, clothes they were wearing, and how in most ways, kids are similar developmentally, but also how different they were,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d go through stuff and I\u2019d see things that were just period items, like a big poster in a classroom of immigrants with \u2018Charlie\u2019s Angels\u2019 on it, things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fell-Lazar isn\u2019t ready to donate the photos or show them all in a public gallery \u2014 she wants to see if they get any traction first \u2014 but is open to that possibility in the future.<\/p>\n

\"\"Students at the now-closed Von Humboldt Elementary School in Humboldt Park circa the 1970s are captured on a film camera. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

\"\"Two boys sit in a Northwest Side classroom circa the 1970s. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

In the \u201990s, Fell-Lazar worked on a series photographing Latin-American immigrants settling in suburban Highland Park and taking summer school classes to aid in their literacy. A few months ago, she attended an event with one of the children featured in the series, who is now an adult with his own children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI brought the photograph of him at age 10 or 11, and that was a really super positive thing,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was clutching it the whole time and showed his family. His kids were excited to see it, and it brought up memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fell-Lazar hopes families still on the Northwest Side have a similar experience to that moment when seeing these photos getting, a chance to relive the past.<\/p>\n

See more of the photos: <\/p>\n

Recognize yourself or someone else in these photos? Email Newsroom@BlockClubChi.org to reconnect with Fell-Lazar.<\/p>\n

\"\"A group of Northwest Side students hug each other while smiling for a photo circa the 1970s. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

\"\"A group of Lafayette Elementary School students stand outside the building in Humboldt Park, now the Chicago High School for the Arts, circa the 1970s. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

\"\"A group of Northwest Side students hug each other while smiling for a photo circa the 1970s. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

\"\"A girl student in a flower dress is captured on film camera circa the 1970s. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

\"\"Two Chopin Elementary School boys look at the camera for a photo, circa the 1970s. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

\"\"Students at Lafayette Elementary School in the late 1970s are seen playing outside. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

\"\"Students at Lafayette Elementary School in the late 1970s are seen playing in the classroom. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

\"\"Students at Lafayette Elementary School in the late 1970s are seen playing outside. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

\"\"A student at Lafayette Elementary School in the late 1970s is seen in the school hallway. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

\"\"A student poses for a photo inside a Northwest Side classroom, circa the 1970s. Credit: Susan Fell-Lazar<\/p>\n

Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HUMBOLDT PARK \u2014 Working as a substitute teacher and photographer in the 1970s, Susan Fell-Lazar brought her camera…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,265502,229,88,831],"class_list":["post-611449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-chicago-public-schools","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}