A public 4-year high school and middle school, John Marshall Harlan Community Academy Harlan is in the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago's south side. The school is run by Chicago Public Schools. The institution was named after Kentucky lawyer, politician, and Supreme Court Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan. Harlan operates as a local high school and a middle school for grades 7 and 8. The Chicago Board of Education approved the $3.2 million project in June 1957. The school building was built in 18 months by a local Chicago construction business (Joseph J. Duffy). Community residents and parents protested the lack of a swimming pool in the school in December 1957, resulting in months of talks. The parents stated that a pool was planned for a new school (Bogan High School) and that Harlan should get one as well. The school board indicated that the pools at Harlan and Bogan would be more expensive to build at Harlan.
Parents of Fenger High School sued the school board months before its debut, seeking that the school board expand the school's attendance borders to accommodate 300 Fenger students. The suit failed. The school started in September 1958 at 9652 S. Michigan Avenue with 1,400 students. By April 1965, the school had 2,726 students (88 percent capacity), mostly black (93 percent ). As a result, the school had 12-period days, five lunch times, and six portable classrooms. The school's program drew pupils from outside the attendance region, causing overcrowding. It became a "community academy" in August 1985, enrolling students from outside its attendance area through the Option for Knowledge program. Harlan introduced a STEM academic program in 2009. In March 1969, a series of fires broke out in a mobile classroom. On the day of the fires, 25 students protested the dismissal of an African–American math teacher. Two pupils were shot in the school's second–floor hallway in November 1970. The shooting was thought to be gang recruitment. On September 13, 2005, two lads fought in the gym. Then one of the boys shot the other in the leg. The gunman was charged with aggravated violence by a school cop. Harlan is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) and plays in the Chicago Public League (CPL).