FISK JUBILEE SINGERS

Among the spiritualism that former slaves brought to their free yet troubled lives, one could always hear melancholy hums of plantation hardship, duets swelling with the anxiety of escape, anticipation of a better life north of “Jordan.” In 1871, less than a decade after the last Civil War battle, nine Jubilee Singers of Fisk University set out across the United States and Europe in an attempt to introduce “slave songs” to the world and finance their school. The U.S. tour route was symbolically planned in accordance with the Underground Railroad.

Fisk University still boasts a critically-acclaimed group of singers today. They have received several awards including the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded to them in 1996 by The National Arts Club of New York. The Fisk Jubilee Singers were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2002.

Click here to listen to the Fisk Jubilee Singers

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