VanderCook College of Music

and directors for such organizations, created the demand for a special course of study to prepare for this work. For several years this work was given by individual lessons, but in 1926 classes in various subjects were organized.
By 1927, more space was needed and VanderCook purchased a large brownstone residence at 1655 Washington Blvd. (and Paulina), later adding adjacent buildings at 1653 and 1657 Washington Blvd. Students took required academic and education courses at nearby Lewis Institute. The root of the relationship between VanderCook College of Music and the Lewis Institute (later Illinois Institute of Technology) was the close friendship between Hale A. VanderCook and George L. Tenney, better known as "Doc" Tenney. "Doc" taught vocal music at the Lewis Institute and directed choirs in some of the largest churches in the Chicago area.
Then in 1928 the school was incorporated as a non-profit teacher training institution under the Illinois State Laws and its curriculum approved by the Board of Examiners …