Roosevelt School, for many years a K-12 school, and later a high school, served the African American population of Gary, due to racism and anti-integration sentiments by much of Gary’s white population. Opened in 1931, in response to the Emerson School Strike of 1927, Roosevelt is even now much revered by many current and former Gary residents, as it was one of the premier all African American schools in the country during the 1930s.