DuSable High School

DuSable High School (Campus)
270px Peace if possible, but justice at any rate.
Address
4934 S. Wabash Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60615 United States
Coordinates
Information
School type	Public Secondary
Opened	1935 2005 (DuSable Leadership) 2005 (Bronzeville) 2005 (Williams Prep)
School district	Chicago Public Schools
CEEB Code	140790 (Dusable Leadership) 140981 (Bronzeville) 141109 (Williams Prep)
Principal	Frank Davis (DuSable Leadership) Leeandra Khan (Bronzeville) Jullanar Naselli (Williams Prep)
Grades	9–12
Gender	Coed
Enrollment	136 (DuSable Leadership; 2014-15) 464 (Bronzeville; 2014-15) 290 (Williams Prep; 2014-15)
Campus type	Urban
Color(s)	Red      Black
Athletics conference	Chicago Public League
Team name	Panthers
Accreditation	North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Yearbook	Red and Black
Website	DuSable Leadership Bronzeville Williams Prep

DuSable High School was a public 4–year high school located in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. DuSable was operated by the Chicago Public Schools district. The school was named after Chicago's first permanent non-native settler, Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable. Constructed between 1931–34, DuSable opened in February 1935. Since 2005, The school building serves as home to three smaller schools; the Bronzeville Scholastic Institute, DuSable Leadership Academy (part of the Betty Shabazz International Charter School), and the Daniel Hale Williams Preparatory School of Medicine. All of the schools use the DuSable name in an athletics context. The school building was designated a Chicago Landmark on May 1, 2013.

History

Work on the school began in February 1931, and was specifically constructed to accommodate the increasing population of Phillips High School. Construction was delayed for financial reasons, and was completed with a public works grant. The school opened on February 4, 1935, and was called New Wendell Phillips High School. New Phillips was a part of a five high school expansion that included Lane Tech High School, Steinmetz High School, Senn High School, and Wells High School. The building was designed by Paul Gerhardt, Sr., an architect for the Chicago Board of Education. On April 25, 1936, the school's name was changed to honor Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, the first non-native to settle the area; however there was a delay in implementing the name, as the exact spelling was in dispute. During the 1940s on thru the 1960s, DuSable enrollment was more than 4,000 which prompted two graduation ceremonies (spring and summer).

DuSable's initial fame was in its music program. Captain Walter Dyett was the longtime music instructor at the school, who created a music program that turned out a number of notable and eminent musical artists, particularly in the genre of jazz. The school's alumni and staff include individuals who hold unique historic positions, particularly in the area of African-American history. DuSable became surrounded by the Robert Taylor Homes, a Chicago Housing Authority public housing project where 80% of the student population were residents. It was the largest housing project in the US, but has been demolished because its design did not work for residents. In 2003, Chicago Public Schools decided to phase out DuSable due to its poor academic performance. In 2005, three schools were opened in the building as apart of the Renaissance 2010 program. All three of the schools; Bronzeville Scholastic Institute, Daniel Hale Williams School of Medicine and DuSable Leadership Academy were created by DuSable staff members.

Athletics

DuSable competes in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). DuSable's boys basketball team were Public League champions in 1953 and 1954, and regional champions in 2012 and 2013. The girl's track and field team were Class AA in 1977-78.

Other information

Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Board of Education opened a birth control clinic in the school in June 1985, in efforts to lower the school's high teen-age pregnancy and drop-out rates. The opening of the clinic caused worldwide controversy. The school once held an inner sanctuary that had many different animals, including peacocks, a goat, snakes, pigeons, chickens, and various other species. In 1995, with funding from NASA, DuSable became the first public high school in Chicago to be connected to the Internet. DuSable principal Charles Mingo created the "Second-Chance Program", a program that served as an alternative school for recent high school drop-outs and adults looking to earn a high school diploma in 1994.

Crime and gang violence

In 1949, 17-year-old LaVon Cain was shot to death at the school by another student; 19-year-old Edwina Howard. It was the first fatal shooting in a Chicago public school. By 1977, the school had developed a reputation for gang violence. In January 1986, a 15-year-old male student was stabbed by another student. On October 13, 1987, 15-year-old freshmen Dartagnan Young was shot to death in a gang-related shooting in the hallway on the school's third floor shortly after 8 a.m. by 16-year-old sophomore Larry Sims. Witnesses said Young was shot after arguing with Sims over street-gang activity from the previous day. The murder prompted some students to transfer from DuSable that day and days following.

Notable alumni

Nat King Cole

John H. Johnson

Dinah Washington

Harold Washington

• Gene Ammons — pioneering jazz tenor saxophone player.
• Ronnie Boykins — jazz bassist, most noted for his work with Sun Ra.
• Timuel Black — historian
• Maurice Cheeks — former NBA guard (1978–93).
• Nathaniel Clifton -- basketball and baseball athlete for DuSable, played for Harlem Globetrotters and Chicago American Giants, Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton was a 2014 inductee in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
• Sonny Cohn — jazz trumpet player, perhaps best known for his 24 years playing with Count Basie.
• Nat King Cole — pianist and crooner, predominantly of pop and jazz works (Unforgettable). He was a 1990 recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2000, he was elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• Jerome Cooper — jazz musician who specialized in percussion.
• Don Cornelius — television show host and producer, best known as the creator and host of Soul Train. (1971–93).
• Vincent T. Cullers — founder of the first African-American advertising agency.
• Richard Davis — bassist and professor of music at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
• Dorothy Donegan — jazz pianist.
• Redd Foxx — standup comedian and actor, best known for his role on the television series Sanford and Son.
• Von Freeman — jazz tenor saxophonist.
• John Gilmore — clarinet and saxophone player, best known for his time with the Sun Ra Arkestra, a group he briefly led after Sun Ra's death.
• Johnny Griffin — bebop and hard bop tenor saxophone player.
• Eddie Harris — jazz musician best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone.
• Johnny Hartman — jazz singer (Lush Life), best known for his work with John Coltrane.
• Fred Hopkins — jazz bassist.
• Joseph Jarman — jazz composer, percussionist, clarinetist, and saxophonist.
• Ella Jenkins — Grammy Award–winning musician and singer best known for her work in folk music and children's music.
• LeRoy Jenkins — violinist who worked mostly in free jazz.
• John H. Johnson — founder of Johnson Publishing Company (Ebony, Jet), and the first African-American on the Forbes list of the richest 400 Americans.
• Clifford Jordan — jazz saxophonist.
• Ernie McMillan — former NFL offensive tackle (1961–75).
• Walter Perkins — jazz percussionist.
• Kevin Porter — former NBA guard (1972–81, 82–83).
• Julian Priester — jazz trombone player.
• Wilbur Ware — hard bebop bassist
• Dinah Washington — Grammy award–winning jazz singer (What a Diff'rence a Day Makes, Teach Me Tonight). She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as an "early influence".
• Harold Washington — the 51st Mayor of Chicago (1983–87), and was the city's first African–American mayor.
• Jason Williams — NFL linebacker.
• Chuck Winfrey — former NFL Linebacker (1971–72).

Notable staff

• Captain Walter Dyett — noted violinist and music instructor at the school from its opening in 1935 until 1962.
• Charles Mingo — educator and former principal of DuSable from 1988 until 2002, his work at the school earned him a Milken National Educator Award in 1993.
• Margaret Taylor-Burroughs — writer and artist who taught at the school for 23 years. She is best known for co-founding the DuSable Museum of African American History.

External links

• Chicago Public Schools DuSable page
• Chicago (DuSable) on Illinois High School Association website