The school serves several South Dallas communities, including Cadillac Heights and some Oak Cliff neighborhoods.[4][5]
History
Construction of the school began in 1961 at 525 Bonnie View Road in the Oak Cliff area. Built before the school district integrated its high schools, the campus was the first new "Negro high school" built in Dallas since 1939 at the time it opened in January 1963.[3] The school was built to serve a maximum capacity of 2000 students and at its opening was expected to draw about 1200 students from the Oak Cliff area, most previously attending Madison High School — which had itself been converted to a "Negro school" in 1956 to relieve overcrowding at Booker T. Washington and Lincoln high schools.[6]
The school is named after Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd U.S.President in honor of him passing and assisting lower class citizens opportunity for growth. School colors chosen were Columbia blue, White, and Cardinal red.[7] Most recent colors used for FDR are navy blue, light blue and white.
^Connally, Sue (June 14, 1956). "Forest assigned to Negro pupils: District added to Crozier's". The Dallas Morning News. Section 1; pp. 1, 9. Note: At that time, "district" was used in Dallas to refer to the attendance zone of a specific school, rather than the system as a whole.
This list is incomplete. Italicized public schools are not in the "full purpose" Dallas city limits but have portions of Dallas in their attendance boundaries.