Theodore Roosevelt High School, later the Theodore Roosevelt College and Career Academy, is a closed school in Gary, Indiana.
Theodore Roosevelt High School, later the Theodore Roosevelt College and Career Academy, is a closed school in Gary, Indiana.
History
The origins of Theodore Roosevelt High School date back to 1908, when Gary established a one-room school for African American children at 12th Avenue and Massachusetts Street, the same year the city’s school board chose to segregate its public schools. 2 Students from that school and another at 14th Avenue and Connecticut Street were later moved to the Frederick Froebel School at 15th and Madison Street. 1
As Gary’s Black population grew, additional segregated facilities were created. Beginning in 1915, some students attended portable classrooms at 21st Avenue and Adams Street, as well as other temporary schools. In 1921, those portable classrooms were moved to 25th Avenue and Harrison Street, the future Roosevelt campus, and became known as the Roosevelt Annex. In 1923, James Stanley became principal of both Roosevelt School and the Annex, and in 1925, the Annex began offering secondary courses. 1 2 3
In September 1927, racial tensions in Gary’s school system came to a head when eighteen Black students were transferred to Emerson School, prompting a walkout by many white students in what became known as the Emerson School Strike. The four-day protest ended when the city agreed to fund a separate high school for African American students, formalizing segregation in Gary’s schools. 2
The new high school was designed by architect William Butts Ittner in the Colonial Revival style. Construction began in 1929 and was completed in 1930, although the full U-shaped plan was never realized. Frederick C. McFarlane, who became principal in 1929, oversaw the school’s early years. The school was accredited in 1930, dedicated in April 1931, and admitted to the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges that same year. Its first graduation ceremony in the new building was held in 1933 for a class of 30 students. 1 2 3
Roosevelt developed as part of William Wirt’s nationally influential Gary System of education, which combined vocational training, college preparatory coursework, athletics, and extracurricular activities. It remained significant as the first and only school in Gary built specifically for the city’s African American community. 3 4
The campus expanded over time. An east building was completed in 1923, and a west wing in 1926, before the main high school opened, with later additions in 1946 and from 1968 to 1971. 1 3 The school’s most distinctive architectural features included its red-brick exterior, limestone-trimmed entrance with Doric columns, and a cupola inspired by Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Inside were terrazzo floors, glazed ceramic block, classrooms, an auditorium, and a gymnasium. 2 3
Roosevelt remained part of the Gary Community School Corporation until 2012, when the Indiana Department of Education took control because of poor academic performance and contracted with EdisonLearning to operate the school. Edison reorganized it as Theodore Roosevelt College & Career Academy. That same year, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 2
After Lew Wallace High School closed in 2015, Roosevelt became the only one of Gary’s seven William Butts Ittner-designed school buildings still in use. 2 3 Under principal Donna Henry, the school earned its first A grade from the Indiana Department of Education. Later administrators included Ian Miller and Joshua T. Batchelor, the school’s final principal, who led Roosevelt during its move from the 25th Avenue campus to its last location at the Gary Area Career Center.
In January 2020, the State Board of Education declined to renew Roosevelt’s innovation contract. Negotiations between EdisonLearning and the Gary Community School Corporation failed to produce an agreement to keep the school operating. After a series of burst pipes during the winter of 2019 left the building in need of costly repairs, the Distressed Unit Appeal Board voted in February 2020 to close the school. Theodore Roosevelt College & Career Academy then closed indefinitely, and its students were merged into West Side Leadership Academy.
Gallery
Sources
- McCollum, Carmen. “Roosevelt High Celebrates Rich History.” The Times, 22 Apr. 2011.
- Tolbert, Tiffany. “Sooner or Later: The Creation of Gary’s Roosevelt High School.” Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, vol. 28, no. 3, Summer 2016, pp. 30–37.
- Abell, Gregg. Theodore Roosevelt High School. Dec. 2010. Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database.
- McCollum, Carmen. “Bernard Watson Visits His Namesake School.” The Times, 28 Feb. 2013.
- McCollum, Carmen. “EdisonLearning Ready to Open ‘New’ Roosevelt.” The Times, 13 Aug. 2012.
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