Winners of the FJSA Jubilee Heritage Special Award

The 1956 Fisk University Jubilee Singers

Gloria Foster, left, Thomas Witt, Betty Nowlin, Delano O’Banion, Martha Potts, and another member plus Fisk University council president Prince Rivers in the center.

The history of the Fisk Jubilee Singers rightfully begins with the group formed in 1871 by music director George Leonard White. The group featured nine African American a cappella singers, including matriarch Ella Sheppard. Between 1871 and 1878, the group toured the route of the Underground Railroad in the United States. 1873, they performed in England and much of Europe, including before Queen Victoria. That tour raised $150,000 for Fisk University, which was used to construct the school’s first permanent structure, Jubilee Hall.

Fhaywood25, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Their upside was performing before royalty and presidents. They also performed before sparse audiences and didn’t make enough to cover expenses. The group disbanded in 1878 because of their grueling schedule. Two of the singers recounted their experiences.

“Our strength was failing under the ill-treatment at hotels, on railroads, poorly attended concerts, and ridicule.” — Ella Sheppard

“There were many times when we didn’t have a place to sleep or anything to eat. Mr. White went out and brought us some sandwiches and…