The National Museum of African American Music will soon open a new exhibit dedicated to the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
Set to open tomorrow, the exhibit, titled “Jubilations! Ambassadors On A Sacred Journey,” is a 2,500-square-foot installation celebrating the impact of the Fisk Jubilee Singers on American music. The exhibit also pays tribute to their preservation of spirituals as well as their effect on shaping Nashville as the Music City.
“Jubilations!” spans their entire career, beginning with their first performance in 1871, which they performed to raise funds for Fisk University. Each chapter of their story is supplemented with recordings, images, phrases, a light display and Ambassador Panels that tell the stories of each member.
“This exhibit not only honors their monumental contribution to music, but it also underscores the vital role that Fisk continues to play in shaping culture and empowering the next generation of changemakers,” said the President of Fisk University, Dr. Agenia Clark, per a statement. “Their journey reminds us that music is not just an art form—it’s a movement that drives progress and unity.”
In 1871, nine students formed the Fisk Jubilee Singers to help raise $20,000 in funds for Fisk University. Members of the original group included Minnie Tate, Greene Evans, Isaac Dickerson, Jennie Jackson, Maggie Porter, Ella Sheppard, Thomas Rutling, Benjamin Holmes and Eliza Walker. The group was mentored by Sheppard, who was a pianist herself and had a musical background.
Under the guidance of George L. White, a Fisk treasurer and music professor, they began to tour across the country, performing spirituals. Their concerts grew in popularity, earning them standing ovations from their audiences as well as enough funds to send back to Fisk University.
The Fisk Jubilee Singers performed at various venues, such as the Steinway Hall in Manhattan and Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, in front of notable figures such as Queen Victoria, Johann Strauss, Mark Twain and Ulysses S. Grant.
Seven years after they formed, the original iteration of the Fisk Jubilee Singers disbanded after their funding by the American Missionary Association was cut off and multiple members fell sick with exhaustion on account of their schedule and discrimination on the road.
A year later, a second iteration of the group came to fruition. The Fisk Jubilee Singers have now been active for over 150 years under the direction of people such as Sheppard, John Wesley Work, Jr and Henrietta Crawley Myers.
For their impact, they have been rewarded with a variety of honors, including an induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, a place on the Music City Walk of Fame and the National Medal of Arts.
