The Fisk Jubilee Singers, circa 1870s

The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African American a cappella ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University, that was first organized in 1871. Their early repertoire centered on spirituals, but also included some Stephen Foster songs. 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.^[1]

[edit] History

The Singers were organized as a fundraising effort for Fisk University, a black university in Nashville, Tennessee, that had been formed at the end of the American Civil War for the purpose of educating freed slaves and other young African-Americans. The five-year-old university was facing serious financial difficulty. In an effort to avert bankruptcy and closure, Fisk's treasurer and music director, George L. White-a white Northern missionary-^[2] gathered a nine-member chorus of students to go on tour to earn money for the university. On October 6, 1871, the group of students, consisting of two quartets and a pianist, left for their U.S. tour, under White's direction.^[3] The first tour began in Cincinnati, Ohio. Over the next 18 months, the group continued to tour through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Washington, D.C..^[4]

After a concert in Cincinnati, the group donated their small profit which amounted to less than fifty dollars to the relief to the victims of the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871.^[3][5] As soprano Maggie Porter recalled “We had thirty dollars and sent every penny to Chicago and didn’t have anything for ourselves”. Though it was not without gratitude as even the mayor of Chillicothe who expressed “our thanks to these young colored people for their liberality in giving the proceeds of last evening’s concert to our relief fund for the Chicago sufferers”.^[6] The group then traveled on to Columbus, Ohio,where lack of funding, proper hotel conditions, and overall mistreatment from the press and audiences left them feeling tired and discouraged. After the group, along with their pastor, Henry Bennett, prayed about whether or not they should continue with the tour or return home to Fisk, White went off by himself to pray further on the matter. He believed that they needed a name that would capture audience’s attention or else they were not going to be successful, especially since the singers were often advertised as “colored students from Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee”. Upon returning the next morning he met the singers and said “Children, it shall be Jubilee Singers in memory of the Jewish year of Jubilee.”^[7] This was a reference to the year of Jubilee described in the 25th chapter of the book of Leviticus in the Bible. In Old Testament history, each fiftieth Pentecost was followed by a "year of jubilee" in which all slaves would be set free.^[3] Since student at Fisk university had been newly freed slaves^[8], the name "Jubilee Singers" seemed the most fitting and reflective of their lives.

Jubilee Hall at Fisk University

Some initial audiences were not receptive to the Jubilee Singers' performances, which were a departure from the familiar "black minstrel" genre in which white musicians performed in blackface. As the tour continued, audiences came to appreciate the singers' voices and the group began to receive praise for its talents. The Jubilee Singers are credited with the early popularization of the Negro spiritual tradition among white and northern audiences in the late 19th century; many were previously unaware of its existence.^[9] The initial concerts were not financially successful, but the first United States tours eventually earned $40,000 for Fisk University.^[4][10]

After singing at the World Peace Festival in Boston in 1872, the group was invited to perform for President Ulysses S. Grant at the White House in March 1872.^[3][4] They gave a separate performance in Washington, D.C., for Vice President Schuyler Colfax and members of the U.S. Congress, and traveled thereafter to New York City where they performed before enthusiastic audiences at preacher Henry Ward Beecher’s Plymouth Church in Brooklyn and at Steinway Hall in Manhattan.^[4] This appearance attracted national attention and generous donations. They remained in the New York area for six weeks and by the time they returned to Nashville in the spring they had raised the full 20,000 White had promised.^[11]

In a tour of Europe in 1873, the group, which by then had 11 members, performed “Steal Away to Jesus” and “Go Down, Moses” for Queen Victoria in April. After returning home to the U.S. in May 1874, they made another European tour from May 1875 to July 1878. This tour raised an estimated $150,000 for the university which was used to construct the university’s earned enough money to send back to Fisk to construct the university's first-ever permanent building.^[12] That building, named Jubilee Hall, is still standing today and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975.^[3][9][13]

The original Jubilee Singers disbanded in 1878 after a grueling touring schedule had led to exhaustion and health problems among the members.As Ella Sheppard, one of the original Jubilee Singers recalls, “our strength was failing under the ill treatment at hotels, on railroads, poorly attended concerts, and ridicule”. Porter also states that “There were many times, when we didn’t have place to sleep or anything to eat. Mr. White went out and brought us some sandwiches and tried to find some place to put us up.” Other times while the singers would wait in the railway station White “and some other man of the troupe waded through sleet or snow or rain from hotel to hotel seeking shelter for us”.^[14] A new Jubilee Singers choir was formed in 1879 under the direction of George White and singer Frederick Loudin.^[15] This troupe, formed by White, consisted of Jennie Jackson, Maggie Porter, Georgia Gordon, Mabel Lewis, Patti Malone, Hinton Alexander, Benjamin W.Thomas, and newcomers like R.A. Hall, Mattie Lawrence, and George E. Barrett. A. Cushing was an agent who took charge of their bookings.^[16]

===Singers and Tours===^[7]

[note: Parentheses indicate performers who participated only a few months in a particular tour.] First Tour October 1871 to March 1872 (Phebe Anderson)- contralto Isaac Dickerson- bass Greene Evans-bass Benjamin Holmes- tenor Jennie Jackson- soprano Maggie Porter- soprano Thomas Rutling- tenor Ella Sheppard- soprano, piano, organ, and guitar Minnie Tate- contralto Eliza Walker- contralto (George Wells)- performer Second Tour May 1872 to May 1874 Isaac Dickerson- bass (Greene Evans)- bass Georgia Gordon- soprano Benjamin Holmes- tenor Jennie Jackson- soprano Julia Jackson- contralto Mabel Lewis- contralto (Josephine Moore)- piano (Henry Morgan)- tenor Maggie Porter- soprano Thomas Rutling- tenor Ella Sheppard- soprano, piano, organ, and guitar Minnie Tate- contralto Edmund Watkins- bass Third Tour January 1875 to July 1878 Hinton Alexander- tenor (Minnie Butler)- voice and/or instrument unknown Maggie Carnes- soprano Georgia Gordon- soprano (Ella Hildridge)- soprano Jennie Jackson- soprano Julia Jackson- contralto Mabel Lewis- contralto Frederick Loudin- bass (Patti Malone)- mezzo-soprano (Gabriel Ousley)- bass Maggie Porter- soprano America Robinson- contralto Thomas Rutling- tenor Ella Sheppard- soprano, piano, organ, and guitar Benjamin W. Thomas- bass (Lucinda Vance)- contralto Edmund Watkins- bass

[edit] Alumni

Notable people who were members of the Jubilee Singers at one time include:

• Roland Hayes, lyric tenor who was the first African American male concert artist to receive wide international acclaim
• Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones, soprano whose repertoire included grand opera, light opera, and popular music
• Patti J. Malone, mezzo-soprano
• Mandisa Lynn Hundley, American gospel singer professionally known as Mandisa, a Grammy and Dove Award-nominated vocalist who was the ninth-place finalist in the fifth season (2006) of American Idol

[edit] Jubilee Day

Fisk University commemorates the anniversary of the Singers' first tour by celebrating Jubilee Day on October 6 each year.^[3][13]

[edit] Recent accomplishments

The Fisk Jubilee Singers' performance at the Dixie Carter Performing Arts and Academic Enrichment Center in Huntingdon, Tennessee in 2008.

The Jubilee Singers continue to perform as a touring ensemble consisting of Fisk University students. As of 2000, the group had 14 members who sang without instrumental accompaniment and with their director offstage.^[17] They have appeared with popular performers including Danny Glover, Hank Williams Jr., Faith Hill, and Shania Twain.^[18]

In 1996, the National Arts Club honored the Singers with a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award.^[18]

In 2000, the Singers were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and in 2006 the group was honored on the Music City Walk of Fame.^[18]

The song "Poor Man Lazarus" on the Singers' 2003 recording In Bright Mansions was honored with a Dove Award in 2004.^[18] In Bright Mansions also was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Recording Package category.^[19]

In 2008, the group was awarded the National Medal of Arts.^[18]

In 2009, Fisk Jubilee Singers, along with Jonny Lang, released the song “I Believe” on the compilation album Oh Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration.^[20]

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Fisk Jubilee Singers official website
• Fisk Jubilee Singers cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
• Fisk Jubilee Singers Recordings on Folkways Records