Paul Robeson High School (Illinois)

Paul Robeson High School (simply known locally as Robeson) was a public 4–year high school located in the Englewood neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in September 1977, Robeson was a part of the Chicago Public Schools district.[6] The school was named in honor of African-American entertainer and athlete Paul Robeson. After years of declining enrollment, the school closed after the 2017–2018 school year and was later demolished in September 2018.

Robeson High School
Address
6835 South Normal Boulevard

Chicago
,
Illinois
60621

United States
Coordinates41.7704°N 87.6363°W / 41.7704; -87.6363
Information
School typePublic Secondary
Opened1977
StatusDemolished
ClosedJune 2018
School districtChicago Public Schools
CEEB code141070[1]
PrincipalMelanie V. Beatty–Sevier [2]
Grades9–12
GenderCoed
Enrollment26 (2017–2018; last graduating class of seniors)[3][4]
Campus typeUrban
Color(s)  Gold
  Scarlet
  Black[5]
Athletics conferenceChicago Public League
Team nameRaiders[5]
AccreditationNorth Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Websiteprhs.org

History

Prior to becoming Robeson High School, the school was known as Parker High School from 1901–1977. 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,[7] named for Robeson, opened on September 6, 1977.[8]

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.[9] Due to low enrollment and poor academic performance, Chicago Public Schools decided to close Robeson along with three other neighborhood high schools: Harper, Hope College Prep and Team Englewood. Robeson held its last graduation on June 12, 2018[3] and closed thereafter. The building was later demolished in September 2018. A new neighborhood high school was built on the site.

Athletics

Robeson competed in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and was a member of the Illinois High School Association (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.[10] 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 2015-16.[11]

Notable alumni

References
  1. "High School Code Search". College Board. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  2. "Administrators". directory. Paul Robeson High School. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  3. Twitter - Olivia Obineme (@OliviaObineme) - 12 Jun 2018 - Watson shared in his speech that he was one of 207 students that graduated in 1984. Today’s graduating class includes 26 students, according to the commencement program. #RobesonHigh #FinalGraduation #ChicagoPublicSchools #Englewood
  4. Chicago Public Schools: Robeson
  5. "Chicago (Robeson)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 28 December 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  6. "contact." Paul Robeson High School. Retrieved on Retrieved on October 21, 2009.
  7. CPSR - Paul Robeson's Chicago History 1921-1958
  8. "History". Robeson High School. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2010. In 1889, Colonel Francis W. Parker provided a land grant for the purpose of building educational facilities for the community. Since then, various institutions have been located on this land ... and Parker High School. In the mid–1970s, Chicago State University moved to a new campus on 95th Street, and a new high school was built on its old site. Parker High School was converted into Parker Elementary School (later Parker Community Academy), and the new school opened as Paul Robeson High School on September 6, 1977.
  9. Chicago Teacher's Union, Englewood HS
  10. "IHSA Season Summaries". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 16 November 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  11. "Boys Football Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  12. Farmer, Martin (26 January 2010), "Robeson", Chicago Sun-Times, archived from the original on 29 January 2010, retrieved 28 January 2010
  13. 'Former State Rep. Eugenia Chapman,' Chicago Tribune, Dan Wetzel, October 1, 1994
  15. Bell, Taylor (26 October 2007), "spotlight: Mickey Pruitt", Chicago Sun-Times, retrieved 1 January 2010, What is your background? I'm a 1983 graduate of Robeson. I played on the 1982 state runner-up. I graduated from Colorado in 1988 and played with the Bears (1988-90) and Cowboys (1991-92) in the NFL. I joined the Chicago Board of Education in 1999 as assistant coordinator in football. Now I'm the head coordinator.
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