Title: Jubilee Singers Pamphlet

Date/Date Range :   1876

Extent: 0.1 linear feet

Abstract:

A portion of the 1876 pamphlet, entitled "The Story of the Jubilee Singers; with Their Songs" includes the cover page and a photograph of ten members.

Call number: MS-2275

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

Collection was purchased in May 2003.

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], Jubilee Singers Pamphlet, MS-2275. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of a single folder.

The Jubilee Singers established themselves in 1871 to tour America, raising money for their school Fisk University in Nashville, TN. It began as a nine-member ensemble, directed by George White, the university treasurer. The group popularized Negro spirituals, helping to preserve these songs. After three years of touring America and Europe, including a performance for Queen Victoria of Britain, the group had earned over $50,000, which allowed Fisk to pay off debts, to buy a new campus in Nashville, TN, and to build its first permanent structure Jubilee Hall. The building still displays a floor to ceiling portrait of the singers, in memory of their efforts of furthering the education of the students.

The 1876 pamphlet, entitled "The Story of the Jubilee Singers; with Their Songs" includes the cover page and a photograph of ten members. Also, the back of the cover page, inscribed to "Miss Marriam Farmingham," has the autographs of thirteen members, including four of the original members.

• Jubilee Singers.
• Spirituals (Songs) -- Southern States.
• Fisk University.