Paul Robeson High School was a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

four–year

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in the Englewood neighborhood on the south side of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, United States. Opened in September 1977, Robeson was a part of the

Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. ...

district. The school was named in honor of African-American entertainer and athlete

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...

. After years of declining enrollment and low academic performance, the school closed after the 2017–2018 school year and was later demolished in September 2018.

History

Prior to becoming Robeson High School, the school was known as Parker High School from 1901 to 1977. Parker was located at 68th and Stewart Avenue (6800 S. Stewart Avenue) about 100 yards away from the present Robeson location in the Englewood area of Chicago. At the time, the school was located on the same campus with Wilson Junior college and Chicago Teachers College. The new school building was constructed on the former Normal Avenue Park site, named for Robeson, opened on September 6, 1977. During the 2003–2004 and 2004–2005 school years, Robeson served as a receiving school for students affected by the closings of Engelwood High School (which was located about 2.5 miles away) and Calumet High School, which lead to Robeson being overcrowded. By the 2014–2015 school year, CPS considered the campus for consolidation due to its low–enrollment. Due to low enrollment and poor academic performance, Chicago Public Schools decided to close Robeson along with three other neighborhood high schools:

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name Places ;in Canada * Harper Islands, Nunavut *Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name of Costa Mesa, California in Orange County * Harper, Il ...

, Hope College Prep and

Team Englewood Englewood High School (also known as Englewood Technical Prep Academy and later known as TEAM Englewood Academy High School) was a public 4–year high school located in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United ...

. Robeson held its last graduation on June 12, 2018 and closed thereafter. The building was later demolished in September 2018. Englewood STEM High School was built on the site, opening on September 3, 2019, for the 2019–2020 school year.

Athletics

Robeson competed in the

Chicago Public League The Chicago Public High School Athletic Association, commonly known as the Chicago Public League (CPL), is the interscholastic competition arm of the Chicago Public Schools. The governance of the CPL is set through the Department of Sports Admini ...

(CPL) and was a member of the

Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fed ...

(IHSA). The school teams were stylized as the Raiders for boys' teams and the Lady Raiders for girls' teams. The school's boys' tennis team won IHSA state championships in 1937–1938 and 1938–1939 as Parker High School. Since 1974, when the IHSA began sponsoring a state championship tournament in football, Robeson was the only CPL team to play in a state championship football game, finishing second in 5A in 1982–1983, until Phillips won the 4A title in 2015–2016.

Notable alumni

Carol Moseley Braun Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun, also sometimes Moseley-Braun (born August 16, 1947), is a former U.S. Senator, an American diplomat, politician, and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. Prior to her Senate ...

, (Parker; 1964) – former

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

(1993–99) and

United States Ambassador to New Zealand The United States has maintained a Consul (representative), consular presence in New Zealand since 1838. The first consul was James Reddy Clendon. Born in England, Clendon was a ship owner and merchant who bought land and settled in the Bay of Is ...

(1999–2001). Braun was the first African–American woman elected to the U.S. Senate. * Eugenia S. Chapman, (Parker; 1939) – educator and Illinois state representative *

Lil Durk Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper and singer. He is the lead member and founder of the collective and record label Only the Family (OTF). Durk garnered a cult following with the ...

(Durk Banks), (attended) – rapper *

Bo Ellis Maurice H. "Bo" Ellis (born August 8, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player. After graduating from Chicago's Parker High School, Ellis, a 6-9 forward, played college basketball at Marquette University and won an NCAA Champi ...

, (Parker; 1973) – former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player (1977–80) who spent his entire career with the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

. He was a member of the 1977 NCAA Division I basketball champion Marquette Warriors. * Tom Hawkins, (Parker; 1955) – former NBA player (1959–69) and first round draft pick. *

Holle Thee Maxwell Holle Thee Maxwell (born October 17, 1945) is an American vocalist and songwriter who performs opera, jazz, soul music, blues, R&B, pop, and country music. She has performed with soul and blues artist Ike Turner and jazz organist Jimmy Smith. ...

, (Parker; 1964) – singer-songwriter with a six decade career and a command of a wide range of genres including

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, R&B, pop, and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

. *

Jannero Pargo Jannero Pargo (born October 22, 1979) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Neosho Co ...

, (1998) – professional basketball player. *

Jeremy Pargo Jeremy Raymon Pargo (born March 17, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for Real Betis of the Liga ACB. Standing at , he plays at the point guard position. In 2011 he reached the EuroLeague Final with Maccabi Tel Aviv, earning an ...

, (2005) – professional basketball player. *

Mickey Pruitt Mickey Pruitt (born January 10, 1965) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys, winning a Super Bowl ring with the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXVII over the Buffalo Bills. Ea ...

, (1983) – former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

(1988–92). Pruitt was a member of the

Super Bowl XXVII Super Bowl XXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

champion

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He is currently in charge of football for the Chicago Public League. *

Young Chop Tyree Lamar Pittman (born November 14, 1993), better known by his stage name Young Chop, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. In 2012, he gained widespread recognition within the American hip hop community for producing Chief K ...

(Tyree Pittman), (attended) – record producer and rapper. *

Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Durin ...

, (Parker; 1957) –

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

singer. *

Jermaine Stewart William Jermaine Stewart (September 7, 1957 – March 17, 1997) was an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, best known for his 1986 hit single "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off", which peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Bil ...

, (Parker; 1975) –

and pop singer, best known for "

We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (released in the United Kingdom as "We Don't Have To...") is a song by American R&B singer Jermaine Stewart, released in 1986 as the lead single from his second studio album ''Frantic Romantic'' (1986). Th ...

". *

Famous Dex Dexter Tiewon Gore Jr. (born September 6, 1993), better known by his stage name Famous Dex, is an American rapper and singer. His 2018 debut album ''Dex Meets Dexter'' peaked at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' 200, while its singles " Pick It Up ...

(Dexter Gore Jr.), (attended) – rapper.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robeson, Paul High School Public high schools in Chicago Educational institutions established in 1977 School buildings completed in 1977 Former high schools in Illinois 2018 disestablishments in Illinois Educational institutions disestablished in 2018 Demolished buildings and structures in Chicago Buildings and structures demolished in 2018