The Fisk Jubilee Singers, an cappella group of nine students from Fisk University was organized in 1871 to raise money ($20,000, to be exact) for their financially troubled institution.
They succeeded magnificently.
In the process, they were instrumental in preserving traditional African American spirituals and bringing them to a vastly wider audience, both in the U.S. and Europe.
This was the first around-the-world tour by a musical act.
Their efforts helped fund the school’s mission of educating freed slaves after the Civil War – and also put Nashville on the map as a global music center.
In fact, upon playing for the Queen of England, the queen stated the Fisk Jubilee Singers must come from the “Music City.”
Yvonne B. Burke speaking at Democratic National Convention, 1972 Courtesy Ebony Collection, NMAAHC Born Perle Yvonne Watson on October 5, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, Yvonne Burke became the first black woman elected to the California legislature (1966), the first black woman elected to Congress from California (1972), and the first black woman to serve as Chair of the Los Angeles County Supervisors (1993). Educated in Los Angeles […]
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