Roseland, Chicago

First Reformed Church of Roseland was founded by the Dutch immigrant population

Roseland was settled in the 1840s by Dutch immigrants, who called the area "de Hooge Prairie", the High Prairie, because it was built on higher, drier ground than the earlier Dutch settlement several miles further south of the Little Calumet River, which was called "de Laage Prairie", the Low Prairie, now South Holland, Illinois.

The community was entirely agrarian until the late 19th century, when the town of Pullman, Chicago was built between Roseland and Lake Calumet. George M. Pullman planned a model industrial city built around a factory that manufactured his "Palace" railway coaches. Modern brick homes were built with electricity, plumbing and gas utilities. Skilled tradesmen from all over Europe immigrated to the town of Pullman with many settling in nearby Roseland. The Pullman Freight Car Works was built in the 1900s decade on 103rd Street, and survives to this day as a distribution center for flat-rolled steel.

Roseland was annexed into Chicago in 1892. The Roseland area became a very cosmopolitan community made up of multi cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds. There was a large population of Italian Americans just east of Roseland in the Kensington community. While some Italians of southern Italian origins came to the area from the Little Italy neighborhood on Taylor Street, many other Italians who settled in the area came from the northern Italian regions of Piedmont, Tuscany, and the Veneto. All these Italians from varied regions of Italy helped to make the Kensington area, and the wider Roseland area, centers of South Side Italian life. Sant' Antonio di Padua (St. Anthony's) Church (built 1903) and its grammar school were key religious and cultural landmarks of the area. Supporting businesses flourished rapidly changing the farmland into commercial and residential communities surrounded by a number of industries. Stores on Michigan Avenue served the entire south side of Chicago.

Fortunes began to change in the 1960s when industry patterns led to economic decline. Steel mills to the east were shuttered. Pullman scaled back production and eventually closed for good in 1981. The huge Sherwin-Williams paint factory closed for good in 1995. A period of rapid ethnic succession took place.

The much lauded mural "I Welcome Myself to a New Place: Roseland Pullman Mural," by Olivia Gude, Jon Pounds, and Marcus Jefferson, 1988, was designed to unite the predominantly African American community of Roseland with its nearest neighbor, the predominantly white Pullman community.

Roseland is a stronghold for the Democratic Party. In the 2016 presidential election, Roseland cast 20,042 votes for Hillary Clinton and cast 316 votes for Donald Trump.[6] In the 2012 presidential election, Roseland cast 24,400 votes for Barack Obama and cast 132 votes for Mitt Romney.[7]

Train service in the community area is provided by Metra. The Metra Electric District's Main Line runs along the Roseland community area's border with the Pullman community area with stations at 95th Street, 103rd Street, 107th Street, 111th Street, and 115th Street.[8]

The 95th/Dan Ryan station, a terminal station of the Chicago "L" Red Line, is located in Roseland. Red Ahead, a program to extend the Red Line south to 130th Street, would result in new stations in Roseland at 103rd Street and 111th Street. In 2020, it was estimated that this project would begin construction in 2025 and would be completed in 2029.[9]

The Kids off the Block memorial featuring hundreds of stones, one for each person killed by gun violence in Roseland

Chicago Public Schools operates public schools in Roseland.

K-8 schools in Roseland and serving sections of Roseland include Bennett, Cullen, Curtis, Scanlon, Dunne, Frank L. Gillespie, Alex Haley Academy, L. Hughes, Kohn, and Lavizzo.

K-8 Schools outside of Roseland and serving sections of Roseland include Evers, Fernwood, Pullman, Ryder, and Smith.[10]

Three high schools, Fenger High School, Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy and Harlan Community Academy High School, are located in Roseland and serve Roseland. Some Roseland residents are zoned to Corliss High School in Pullman, while others are zoned to Julian High School in Washington Heights.[11]

Chicago Collegiate Charter School, opened in 2013, serves students in Roseland. Harlan Academic Center and Turner-Drew, K-8 magnets, are in Roseland.[10] Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy, a magnet school, is located in Roseland.[12]

Roseland Christian School, a private school, is in Roseland.

The main campus of Chicago State University at 95th and Martin Luther King Drive, is in the northeast portion of Roseland.

Roseland is one of the deadliest neighborhoods in Chicago, despite stepped-up efforts by City Hall to curb gang violence.

Roseland has seen 26 shooting deaths 2021, higher than in 2020, according to Chicago Sun-Times data.

• Anthony Beale (born 1967), member of the Chicago City Council. Beale was raised in Roseland and represents it as 9th Ward Alderman.[14]
• Dick Butkus (born 1942), football player. He was raised in Roseland.[15]
• Deon Cole (born 1972), actor, comedian and screenwriter. He was a childhood resident of Roseland.[16]
• Frederic R. DeYoung (1875–1934), Justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois. He was a childhood resident of Roseland prior to its annexation into the City of Chicago.[17]
• Dennis DeYoung, Chuck Panozzo, and John Panozzo of the band Styx. The three began playing music in their teen years while living in Roseland.[18]
• Wilson Frost (1925–2018), member of the Chicago City Council from 1967 to 1987. He resided at 10816 South Parnell Avenue for a time.[19]
• Howard Griffith, football player
• Larry Hoover (born 1950), criminal and founder of the Gangster Disciples. He lived at East 104th Street at the time of his arrest and sentencing for the murder of William Young.[20]
• Anthony L. Krotiak (1915–1945), Private First Class in the United States Marine Corps and recipient of the Medal of Honor.[21] He was raised in Roseland at 10733 South LaSalle Street.[22]
• James Meeks (born 1956), pastor and former member of the Illinois Senate (2003-2013). He is a resident of Roseland.[23]
• Eliot Ness (1903-1957) noted Prohibition Agent of the famed "Untouchables" in Chicago. He was raised in Roseland.[24]
• Milton L. Olive III (1946–1965), Private first class in the United States Army during the Vietnam War and posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor.[25] Olive-Harvey College is named for him and Carmel Bernon Harvey Jr. He lived in Roseland.[26]
• Robert Sandifer (1983–1994), a Black Disciples gang member killed in 1994 at eleven years of age
• Robert Shaw (born 1937), former member of the Chicago City Council and former commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review, formerly lived in Roseland [27]
• Ralph Stob former president of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• Arthur Swanson (1926–2010), member of the Illinois Senate from 1963 until 1971. He was a childhood resident of Roseland and represented it during his political career.[28]
• Ernest Terrell (1939–2014), professional boxer and 25th Heavyweight Boxing Champion (1965–1967). He resided at 11136 S. Parnell Ave. for a time.[29]
• John Ton (1826–1896), abolitionist. He was a longtime resident of what is now Roseland and resided at 316 West 103rd Street from 1893 until his death in 1896.[30]
• Paul Vallas (born 1953), first chief executive officer of the Chicago Public School system and candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination for governor in 2002. He was raised in Roseland.[31]
• Robert Zemeckis (born 1952), film director whose credits include Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Forrest Gump. He was raised in Roseland.[32] The address 11344 Edbrooke mentioned in the film "The Polar Express" is the actual address where Zemeckis grew up.[33]

• Official City of Chicago Roseland Community Map
• Roseland photos, videos and message board
• Torgan, Allie. "Grandmother helping Chicago kids 'off the block'." CNN. April 7, 2007.
• "Princeton Park Real Estate & Princeton Park Chicago Information". dreamtown.com. Retrieved December 14, 2017.