Paul Robeson High School (Illinois)


Paul Robeson High School 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. 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.

History

Prior to becoming Robeson High School, the school was known as Francis W. Parker High School from 1910–1977. Parker was located at 68th and 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 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, Hope College Prep and Team Englewood. Robeson held its last graduation on June 12, 2018 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 and was a member of the Illinois High School Association. 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 2015-16.

Notable alumni