DuSable High School

Jean Baptiste Point DuSable High School
Address
4934 S. Wabash Avenue Chicago, Illinois, 60615 USA
Coordinates	41°48′17″N 87°37′30″W / 41.8047°N 87.6251°W / 41.8047; -87.6251
Information
School type	Public Secondary
Motto	Peace if possible, But justice at any rate
Opened	1934
School district	Chicago Public Schools 299
Grades	9–12
Gender	Coed
Campus type	Urban
Color(s)	Red      Black[1]
Athletics conference	Chicago Public League[1]
Team name	Panthers[1]

DuSable High School was a public high school in Chicago opened in the Bronzeville neighborhood in 1934. It was named after Chicago's first permanent non-native settler, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. DuSable was built to accommodate the growing Phillips High School in the 1930s. The campus was renamed.

DuSable's initial fame was in its music program. Captain Walter Dyett was the long time 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. In addition to musicians, the school's alumni and staff include individuals who hold unique historic positions, particularly in the area of African-American history.

DuSable High became surrounded by the Robert Taylor Homes, a public housing project built in 1962. It was the largest project in the US, but has been demolished because its design did not work for residents.

The school is now divided into three smaller schools that operate within DuSable. They are the Bronzeville Scholastic Institute, the Betty Shabazz International Charter School, and the Daniel Hale Williams Preparatory School of Medicine. The DuSable name is still used in an athletics context.^[2]

History

Work on the school began in 1931, and was specifically constructed to accommodate the increasing population of Phillips High School.^[3] Construction was delayed for financial reasons, and was completed with a public works grant.^[3] The school opened on 4 February 1935, and was called New Wendell Phillips High School.^[3] New Phillips was a part of a five high school expansion that included Lane Tech, Steinmetz High School, Senn High School, and Wells High School.^[4]

In April 1936, the school's name was changed to honor the Haitian fur trader who was the first non native to settle the area, however there was a delay in implementing the name, as the exact spelling was in dispute.^[5]

Other information

• The school once held an inner sanctuary that had many different animals, including peacocks, a goat, snakes, pigeons, chickens, and various other species.
• Under the leadership of Physics teacher Bennett Brown, and with funding from a NASA education grant, in 1994 DuSable became the first public high school in Chicago to get connected to the Internet.^[6]

Notable alumni

Sonny Cohn

Dorothy Donegan

Von Freeman (left)

Johnny Griffin

Harold Washington

• Gene Ammons was a pioneering jazz tenor saxophone player.^[7][8]
• Ronnie Boykins was a jazz bassist, most noted for his work with Sun Ra.^[9][10]
• Maurice Cheeks is a former NBA guard (1978–93).^[11][12]
• Sonny Cohn was a jazz trumpet player, perhaps best known for his 24 years playing with Count Basie.^[8]
• Nat King Cole was a pianist and crooner, predominantly of pop and jazz works (Unforgettable). In 2000, he was elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[7]
• Jerome Cooper was a jazz musician who specialized in percussion.^[8]
• Don Cornelius is a former television show host and producer, best known as the host of Soul Train. (1971–93).^[13]
• Richard Davis is a bassist and professor of music at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.^[8]
• Dorothy Donegan was a jazz pianist.^[8]
• Redd Foxx was a standup comedian and actor, best known for his role on the television series Sanford and Son.^[14]
• Von Freeman is a jazz tenor saxophonist.^[8]
• John Gilmore was a clarinet and saxophone player, best known for his time with the Sun Ra Arkestra, a group he briefly led after Sun Ra's death.^[8][10]
• Johnny Griffin was a bebop and hard bop tenor saxophone player.^[7]
• Eddie Harris was a jazz musician best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone.^[15]
• Johnny Hartman was a jazz singer (Lush Life), best known for his work with John Coltrane.^[8]
• Fred Hopkins (Dyett High School campus) is a jazz bassist.^[8]
• Joseph Jarman is a jazz composer, percussionist, clarinetist, and saxophonist.^[8]
• Ella Jenkins is a Grammy Award–winning musician and singer best known for her work in folk music and children's music.^[16]
• LeRoy Jenkins was a violinist who worked mostly in free jazz.^[8]
• John H. Johnson was the founder of Johnson Publishing Company (Ebony, Jet), and the first African-American on the Forbes list of the richest 400 Americans.^[17]
• Clifford Jordan (Dyett High School campus) was a jazz saxophonist.^[8]
• Walter Perkins was a jazz percussionist.^[8]
• Kevin Porter is a former NBA guard (1972–81, 82–83).^[11][12]
• Julian Priester was a jazz trombone player.^[8]
• Elise Wang (Dyett High School campus) is a Rhodes Scholar.
• Wilbur Ware was a hard bebop bassist.^[8]
• Dinah Washington was a 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".^[8]
• Harold Washington was the 51st Mayor of Chicago (1983–87), and was the city's first African–American mayor.^[18][19][20]

Notable staff

• Captain Walter Dyett was a noted violinist and music instructor at the school.^[7]
• Margaret Taylor-Burroughs is a writer and artist who taught at DuSable for 23 years. She is best known for co-founding the DuSable Museum of African American History.^[21][22]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Chicago (DuSable)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 31 December 2009. http://www.ihsa.org/school/schools/2715.htm. Retrieved 3 January 2010. 
2. ^ DuSable High School. mapreps.com
3. ^ ^{a b c} "NEW PHILLIPS HIGH SCHOOL TO OPEN TOMORROW: Classes Also to Continue in Old Building". Chicago Daily Tribune: pp. S5. 3 February. 
4. ^ "NEW $6,000,000 LANE TECHNICAL TO OPEN SEPT. 17 :School Finest of Kind; Capacity 7,000 Students". Chicago Daily Tribune: pp. 10. 26 August. 
5. ^ Provines, Julie (23 April). "Front Views and Profiles". Chicago Daily Tribune: pp. 15. "One hundred and fifty-seven years ago, Jean Baptiste Point de Saible ... settled in Chicago ... and last week his memory was honored with the changing of the name of the new Wendell Phillips High School ... The full name of the school is to be used but ... the principal of the school has cautioned the teachers not to write the name until they have been given official confirmation of the spelling ..." 
6. ^ D. G. York, M.-M. Mac Low, B. Brown, L. M. Franco, L. M. Rebull, C. Graziani, J. Lauroesch. "DuSable High School Internet Project and its influence in connecting Chicago Public Schools to the Internet". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society 192: 27.05. http://www.aas.org/publications/baas/v30n2/aas192/abs/S027005.html. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d} "Gene Ammons: The Jug". biographic sketch. National Public Radio. 20 February 2008. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19172123. Retrieved 2 January 2010. "Some of Ammons' stylistic versatility can undoubtedly be traced to his Chicago home ... He also learned from the renowned "Captain" Walter Dyett, the musical director of Chicago's DuSable High School. Dyett was instrumental in launching the careers of many other DuSable alumni, including the legendary crooner and pianist Nat "King" Cole and fellow saxophonist Johnny Griffin." 
8. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p} Wang, Richard (27 May 2008). "Captain Walter Dyett". Chicago Jazz (Chicago, IL, USA: Chicago Jazz Entertainment). http://www.chicagojazz.com/thescene/captain-walter-dyett-86.html. Retrieved 3 January 2010. "The list of famous Jazz musicians who passed through his program is legion: saxophonists Gene "Jug" Ammons, Johnny Board, Von Freeman, Joseph Jarman, John Gilmore, and Clifford Jordan; trumpeters Sonny Cohn and Paul Serrano; trombonist Julian Priester; bassists Wilbur Ware, Richard Davis, and Fred Hopkins; pianists Dorothy Donegan and John Young; drummers Wilbur Campbell, Walter Perkins, and Jerome Cooper; violinist Leroy Jenkins; singers Dinah Washington and Johnny Hartman" 
9. ^ "Ronnie Boykins". biographic sketch. Chicago Public Schools. http://www.cpsalumni.org/honor_roll/feb/05/2008/ronnie-boykins. Retrieved 3 January 2010. 
10. ^ ^{a b} Campbell, Robert L. (26 March 1995 (original talk)). "FROM SONNY BLOUNT TO SUN RA: The Birmingham and Chicago Years". revision of a talk given by the author. University of Alabama-Birmingham. http://homepage.uab.edu/moudry/camp1.htm. Retrieved 3 January 2010. "John Gilmore (born 1931 in Summit, Mississippi, but raised in Chicago) had attended DuSable High School with its fabled band program ... He and Spaulding added their flutes to the Arkestral armamentarium. And then there was bassist extraordinaire Ronnie Boykins (1932-1980, another graduate of DuSable High School)." 
11. ^ ^{a b} Bell, Taylor (29 January). "Lewis' Goal: Revive Du Sable Basketball". Chicago Sun-Times. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4152969.html. Retrieved 2 January 2010. "Lewis is determined to rekindle one of Chicago's proudest traditions. He recalls Du Sable's glory years . . . the famed 1954 team of Sweet Charlie Brown and Paxton Lumpkin that finished second in the state tournament, Maurice Cheeks, Kevin Porter, Larry Cross, Mitchell Moseley, William Dice, Stephon Butler." 
12. ^ ^{a b} Berkow, Ira (9 February). "SPORTS OF THE TIMES; The Death Of a Prep Legend". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/09/sports/sports-of-the-times-the-death-of-a-prep-legend.html?pagewanted=1. Retrieved 2 January 2010. "But such future National Basketball Association players as Kevin Porter and Maurice Cheeks, who played many years later at Paxton Lumpkin's high school, DuSable, on the South Side of Chicago, would remember his name, and his legend." 
13. ^ "Don Cornelius". Chicago Public Schools. http://www.cpsalumni.org/honor_roll/feb/05/2008/don-cornelius. Retrieved 3 January 2010. 
14. ^ "Redd Foxx". biographical sketch. Chicago Public Schools. http://www.cpsalumni.org/honor_roll/jan/14/2008/redd-foxx. Retrieved 3 January 2010. 
15. ^ Campbell, Gregory Alan; University of Washington (2006). "A beautiful, shining sound object": Contextualizing multi-instrumentalism in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. University of Washington. p. 299. ISBN 9780542768972. 
16. ^ "Ella Jenkins". biographic sketch. Chicago Public Schools. http://www.cpsalumni.org/honor_roll/aug/25/2008/ella-jenkins. Retrieved 3 January 2010. 
17. ^ "John H. Johnson". biographical sketch. Chicago Public Schools. http://www.cpsalumni.org/honor_roll/feb/07/2008/john-h.-johnson. Retrieved 3 January 2010. 
18. ^ "Harold Washington: Mayor of Chicago, Congressman". biographic sketch. Office of the Clerk of Cook County. http://www.cookcountyclerk.com/sweethomecookcounty/Pages/HaroldWashington.aspx. Retrieved 3 January 2010. 
19. ^ Coleman, Geoffrey (April 1994). "Harold Washington: Chicago politician". Illinois History (Springfield, IL, USA: Illinois Historic Preservatin Agency) 47 (3): 72. ISSN 0019-2058. http://www.lib.niu.edu/1994/ihy940472.html. Retrieved 3 January 2010. "Harold attended the local public schools and Milwaukee's St. Benedict the Moor Catholic School. Unfortunately for him, he disliked it so intensely that he ran away three times. Harold then attended DuSable High School, but dropped out, claiming that he was no longer challenged by the classwork." 
20. ^ H. CON. RES. 14: Expressing the sense of the Congress that a commemorative postage stamp should be issued in honor of Harold Washington, the 42d mayor of Chicago. (Introduced in House) (27 January 2003). 108th Congress, 1st Session. Washington, DC, USA: United States House of Representatives. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:H.CON.RES.14.IH:. "Whereas Mayor Harold Washington was an exemplary public servant and dynamic leader who dedicated his life to his beloved Chicago and to equal opportunity for all of Chicago's citizens; Whereas Washington was a graduate of DuSable High School, Roosevelt University, and the Northwestern University School of Law;" 
21. ^ "Margaret Taylor-Burroughs". biographic sketch. Chicago Public Schools. http://www.cpsalumni.org/honor_roll/feb/05/2008/margaret-taylor-burroughs. Retrieved 3 January 2010. 
22. ^ Illinois House Resolution 0802 (2 November 2007). Springfield, IL, USA: Illinois House of Representatives (95th General Assembly). http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/95/HR/PDF/09500HR0802lv.pdf. "(lines 18–19) ... she then went to teach at DuSable High School for 23 years ..." 

External links

• Chicago Public Schools DuSable page
• Athletic Summaries