Fisk University. Institute for Research in Black American Music.

Established in Fall 1978, the Institute was created to provide support, coordinate, and document the legacy of musical contributions of black Americans. Founding director Samuel A. Floyd conceptualized the operation as a spin-off through the Black Studies Program at the University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale while an associate professor of music in 1976. To facilitate cooperative relationships among scholars throughout the nation, Floyd began publication in the same year of "Black Music Research Newsletter," designed to link scholars and musicians throughout the nation who shared in his vision of preserving the musical heritage of black Americans. Floyd desired a centralized location for intensive research, publication, and dissemination of findings to document the agency of black musicians in the making of American social history. As a researcher familiar with the music collections in Fisk University's Special Collections and Archives division of the university library, Floyd met Walter Leonard, eleventh president of Fisk, and subsequently was recruited as a professor of music. Simultaneously, the formal inception of the Fisk University Institute for Research in Black American Music (FUIRBAM) began. From 1978 to 1979 the charter and establishment of the National Advisory and University Advisory boards, respectively, were secured. The National Advisory Board represented a diverse group of scholars, musicians, and executives who assisted the director in meeting the institute's objectives and in programming, fundraising, and promotional matters. The University Advisory Board operated with similar objectives as the National Advisory Board, but was closer in proximity to Floyd on the Fisk campus. Comprised of representatives from humanities and social science disciplines, as well as official university spokespersons. With its organizational structure and operational parameters solidified, Floyd then focused on programming. A five-tiered structure consisted of: (1) The Institute Fellows Program; (2) Research Associates Program; (3) Archives Development Program; (4) Cultural and Educational Affairs Program; and the (5) Publications Program. Residence opportunities for scholars and networking among enthusiasts in similar disciplines drove the first two programs, while the third program focused on enhancing Fisk's existing black music collections. Affiliate Artist concerts, lectures, conferences, and festivals anchored the fourth program, while the fifth program centered on "Black Music Research Newsletter" and "Black Music Research Journal." Additional publications including the "John Work Research Journal," "Black Music Preceptor," "Occasional Papers," and "Conference Papers" were also produced under these auspices. Floyd resigned in Sept. 1983 and became director of the Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College in Chicago. He was succeeded by William T. Dargan, an expert on Congregational gospel songs in the black holiness tradition, associate professor of music and director of the Jazz Ensemble, Fisk University. Floyd remained on the National Advisory Board and publications of "Black Music Research Newsletter" and "Black Music Research Journal" immediately became joint undertakings by Fisk and Columbia College, with Floyd remaining editor of both. After 1985, no records exist using the name FUIRBAM.