Social Religion | Education

Founding of Fisk University

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The Fisk Jubilee Singers, an a cappella group, was created in 1871 as part of a fundraising effort for Fisk University to avoid the school's closing.
On January 9, 1866, a group of students-aged seven to 70 and all formerly enslaved-began class at the Fisk School.

In the months following the American Civil War, John Ogden, the Reverend Erastus Milo Cravath, and the Reverend Edward P. Smith established the Fisk School for freedmen and freedwomen in Nashville, Tennessee. The first classes met on January 9, 1866. By August 1867, the school, which was sponsored by the American Missionary Association, became incorporated as a university. At Fisk, religion and education formed the bedrock of the school's mission. Bible study and daily prayer services were a part of the overall curriculum. Many of the school's teachers were missionaries, thus emphasizing the importance of good moral character for the students and faculty. Although initially charged with providing the basics of an elementary education for its first students, the university moved on to train students for the teaching profession. The influence of Fisk was profound; many of its students established and worked within African American communities throughout the South.

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Theological Hall (now Bennett Hall) was built with funds raised by the Jubilee Singers and the American Missionary Association; the building also housed a men's dormitory.

 

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Jubilee Hall, built in 1876 with money raised from the Jubilee Singers' first tour is the oldest standing building associated with African American higher education in the United States.

 

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Fisk leaders recognized the need for trained educators and implemented programs to educate future teachers.

 

Credit: Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
One of Fisk University's graduates included W.E.B. Du Bois, class of 1888 who became a noted scholar and founder of the NAACP.