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September 20

Fisk Jubilee Singers (1882)
*The founding of the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1866 is celebrated on this date. These singers were emancipated slaves who toured to raise money for Fisk University.

They also formed to introduce to the world the beauty of the songs of a people, Black people. Their songs told of an unvoiced longing for a truer world, where people were free from rejection, disappointment, and sorrow. George L. White led the Fisk Jubilee singers. Originally they consisted of four Black men and five Black women. The five original women were Ella Sheppard, Maggie L. Porter (seated left and center), Minnie Tate, Jennie Jackson (standing righ)and Eliza Walker.

In 1871, the Jubilee Singers began a successful singing tour to save Fisk School from imminent closing for financial reasons. They toured America, England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, and Switzerland, bringing back 50,000 dollars to save Fisk School and found Fisk University.

Reference:
Fisk University
1000 Seventeenth Ave. North,
Nashville, TN 37208-3051.
615-329-8500

 

    

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