Paul Robeson High School was a public four-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 and low academic performance, the school closed after the 2017âÂÂ2018 school year and was later demolished in September 2018.
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 2003âÂÂ2004 and 2004âÂÂ2005 school years, Robeson served as a receiving school for students affected by the closings of Englewood High School (which was located about 2.5 miles away) and Calumet High School, which led to Robeson being overcrowded. By the 2014âÂÂ2015 school year, CPS considered the campus for consolidation due to its lowâÂÂenrollment. 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. The building was later demolished in September 2018. Englewood STEM High School was built on the site, opening on September 3, 2019.
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 1937âÂÂ1938 and 1938âÂÂ1939 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 1982âÂÂ1983, until Phillips won the 4A title in 2015âÂÂ2016.