Jubilee singers

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The Fisk Jubilee Singers originated with nine students, Isaac Dickerson, Maggie Porter, Minnie Tate, Jennie Jackson, Benjamin Holmes, Thomas Rutling, Eliza Walker, Green Evans, and Ella Sheppard, who set out on a concert tour of the North on 6 Oct. 1871 to save the financially ailing Fisk University; idea to form the group was conceived by George L. White, Fisk University's white treasurer; because the University disapproved of the idea, White had to borrow money for the tour; White gave the group the name Jubilee Singers in memory of the Jewish Year of Jubilee.

From the description of Jubilee Singers records, 1871-1947. (Fisk University). WorldCat record id: 70970121

The Fisk Jubilee Singers originated with nine students who set out on a concert tour of the North on 6 Oct. 1871 to save the financially ailing Fisk University; idea to form the group was conceived by George L. White, Fisk University's treasurer.

From the description of European Tour collection, 1873-1878 (bulk, 1875-1877). (Fisk University). WorldCat record id: 70975196

Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, opened in January 1866, was one of seven chartered institutions founded by the American Missionary Association of New York specifically to educate and assist Southern African-Americans in the period immediately following the civil war. It was named in honor of General Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmen's Bureau. In 1870 George L. White, Fisk treasurer and music professor, created a nine-member student choral ensemble -- the Jubilee Singers -- and took them on tour to earn money for the University. Initially the group sang only ballads and patriotic anthems, but White suggested adding spirituals and other songs traditional to the Southern African-American experience, making the Jubilee Singers the first group to publicly perform the songs of slaves.

In 1872 the Jubilee Singers sang at the World Peace Festival in Boston and President Ulysses S. Grant invited them to perform at the White House. In 1873 the group toured Europe, raising enough funds to erect the school's first permanent building, Jubilee Hall; one entire wall of the Hall is a portrait of the original Jubilee Singers. The portrait was commissioned by Queen Victoria as a gift following the tour.

From the guide to the Jubilee Singers Concert Program, 1940, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)

The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American a cappella ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. Their early repertoire consisted mostly of traditional spirituals, but included some songs by Stephen Foster. The original group toured along the Underground Railroad path in the United States, as well as performing in England and Europe. Later 19th-century groups also toured in Europe.

In 2002 the Library of Congress honored their 1909 recording of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" by adding it in the United States National Recording Registry. In 2008 they were awarded a National Medal of Arts.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Jubilee Singers. Jubilee Singers records, 1871-1947. John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives
referencedIn Allison, Andrew. Andrew Allison collection, 1928-1956. John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives
referencedIn Work, John Wesley (III)., 1901-1967. Papers. ca. 1944. Tulane University, Amistad Research Center
referencedIn Cravath, Erastus Milo, 1833-1900. Erastus Milo Cravath papers, 1873-1897. John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives
referencedIn McKenzie, Fayette Avery, b. 1872. Fayette Avery McKenzie papers. Supplement, 1909-1928 (bulk, 1910-1922). John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives
referencedIn Fisk University. Fiskiana records, 1876-[ongoing]. John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives
referencedIn Fox, Herbert Franklin. Jubilee : based on the story of the original Fisk Jubilee Singers / written by Herbert Franklin Fox. Tougaloo College, L Zenobia Coleman Library
creatorOf Jubilee Singers Concert Program, 1940 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
referencedIn Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name File, 1940-2005 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.
referencedIn Caliver, Ambrose, 1894-1962. Ambrose Caliver collection, 1912-1938. John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives
referencedIn Photographs of musicians, composers, and singers, 1862-1948. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
referencedIn Work, John W. (John Wesley), 1901-1967. John Wesley Work III papers, 1915-1971 [microform]. John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives
creatorOf Myers, Henriett Helena Crawley, 1878-1968. Henrietta Myers collection on the Fisk Jubilee Singers, 1947-[19--]. John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives
referencedIn Artus Moser Papers, 1921-1988 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.
creatorOf Jubilee Singers. European Tour collection, 1873-1878 (bulk, 1875-1877). John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives
referencedIn Southall, Geneva H. Geneva H. Southall papers. Emory University. Special Collections and Archives
creatorOf Jubilee Singers. Correspondence with Marian Anderson, 1935-1980. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Collins, Ludie David, b. 1893. Ludie David Collins papers, 1911-1936. John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives
referencedIn Spence, Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth), 1865-1962,. Spence family collection, 1812-1961. John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives
referencedIn Spence, Adam Knight. Adam Knight Spence and John Wesley Work collection, [ca. 1851-1936]. Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, Central Library
referencedIn Doug Seroff Tennessee African American Gospel Quartet collection Center for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee State University
referencedIn Jones, Thomas Elsa. Thomas Elsa Jones collection (1-71), 1925-1947 (bulk, 1926-1946). John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives
referencedIn Orpheus M. McAdoo and Mattie Allen McAdoo papers, circa 1850-1966, 1886-1936 Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn American minstrel show collection, 1823-1947. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
referencedIn Taylor, Alrutheus Ambush. Papers. 1952-1954. Tulane University, Amistad Research Center
referencedIn Jubilee singers photograph [graphic]; n.d. University of Virginia. Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith American Missionary Association corporateBody
associatedWith Caliver, Ambrose, 1894-1962. person
correspondedWith Casey, L. R. person
correspondedWith Clinton, Jeannette Crippen person
associatedWith Collins, Ludie David, b. 1893. person
associatedWith Cravath, Erastus Milo, 1833-1900. person
correspondedWith Fairchild, Charles person
associatedWith Fisk University corporateBody
associatedWith Fisk University. corporateBody
associatedWith Fox, Herbert Franklin. person
correspondedWith Halley, John person
associatedWith Jones, Thomas Elsa. person
associatedWith Kennedy, Matthew, 1921- person
associatedWith McAdoo, Orpheus M. (Orpheus Myron), 1858-1900. person
associatedWith McKenzie, Fayette Avery, b. 1872. person
correspondedWith Moore, Ella Sheppard, 1851-1914 person
associatedWith Moser, Artus. person
associatedWith Myers, Henriett Helena Crawley, 1878-1968. person
associatedWith Myers, James Alexander. person
correspondedWith Pike, Gustavus D. person
correspondedWith Robinson, America W., b. 1855 person
correspondedWith Seward, Theodore F. 1835-1902 person
associatedWith Southall, Geneva H. person
associatedWith Spence, Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth), 1865-1962, person
associatedWith Taylor, Alrutheus Ambush. person
correspondedWith White, George L. 1838-1895 person
associatedWith Work, John Wesley (III)., 1901-1967. person
associatedWith Work, John W. (John Wesley), 1901-1967 person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Europe
Tennessee--Nashville
Tennessee--Nashville
Nashville TN US
Subject
African American universities and colleges
African Americans
African Americans
African Americans
African American singers
Choirs (Music)
Christian universities and colleges
Concert tours
Congregational universities and colleges
Fisk University
Music
Occupation
Singers
Activity

Corporate Body

Active 1871

Active 1947

Establishment 1871

Americans

Dutch; Flemish,

German,

English

Information

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