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Th# WII»on Sally Tlmaa,RegionalFriday, October 27,199511AM*I££Tennessee's Jubilee Singers sang to save Fisk UniversityNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Queen Victoria traveled from Buckingham Palace to hear them sing. Mark Twain once said he would walk seven miles to hear them. Today, a historically black college is indebted to them.The Jubilee Singers, a group of black men and women, became pilgrims for a cause in 1871 and raised enough money to save Fisk University.Half-a-century before the Grand Ole Opry was founded, the Jubilee Singers brought fame not only to their school, but to Nashville.“They went forward with a noble cause and persevered in order to save the university,” said Dr. Henry Ponder, Fisk president.“The property here was bought with the funds they raised. The school is eternally indebted to them.” Their spiritual songs were sometimes accompanied by a piano. Oftentimes there was nothing but the voices of nine men and women, several of them former slaves.Once a year Fisk marks that international tour by the original singers. Earlier this month two dozen people followed the current Jubilee Singers as theywalked to the graves where four of the original singers are buried. There the air was filled with spirituals and emotions.... I’m going to cry, I just know I am,” said Vicki Counts of Fort Worth, Texas, a Jubilee Singer for four years.“I have a special pride being a Jubilee Singer, to sing the songs of my ancestors. It’s like carrying ontradition.”The names of the nine original singers may not be familiar. They are Minnie Tate, Green Evans, Isaac Dickerson, Jennie Jackson, Maggie Porter, Ella Sheppard, Thomas Rutling, Benjamin Holmes andEliza Walker.Depending on your sense of history, their storiesare equally unfamiliar, or all too familiar.Green Evans was a slave whose master moved him all over the South to avoid the Union Army. Once the running stopped, he was a servant to a Yankee officer, taught school and finally got his chance to go tocollege at Fisk.Isaac Dickerson was born a slave in 1850 in Wvtheville. Va He became a houseboy when his“It’s something I’ve never heard before. I would walk seven miles tohear them again. ” —Mark Twainmother died and he was a hotel waiter and school teacher before enrolling at Fisk.Maggie Porter’s lucky break was that her mother was her master’s favorite house servant. That meant she saw little of the harsher side of slavery.Today the Jubilee Singers are eight men and eight women. There are tryouts for the singing squad, just like the basketball squad.Making the group is a prestigious accomplishment. But members say the most important thing is to “know the history behind the original singers, so you can appreciate it more.”The idea for the singers came about around 1871. Many of the old hospital buildings where Fisk was housed were dilapidated, food was scarce, teachers were underpaid and a debt of $2,000 could not be paid.George L. White, the music instructor, had put onseveral successful concerts in Nashville and nearby cities with some of his students. Recognizing the tal ent at hand, he proposed a trip to the North to raise money for Fisk.At first, the concerts consisted of what White described as “white man’s music.” One or two slave songs were performed as encores.But the singers noticed the audiences appreciated the slave songs, or spirituals as they were later called, so they were added to the program.One admirer was Twain, who heard the singers at Carnegie Hall and was quoted as saying: “It’s something I’ve never heard before. I would walk sevenmiles to hear them again. ”When the troupe began singing spirituals, they were referred to as minstrels. White decided it was time to give the group a name, and called them the Jubilee Singers, in memory of the Jewish year of Jubilee.After several successful tours of the Midwest, thesingers set out for New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersev. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Washington,D.C. While in Washington, President Ulysses S. Grant invited the group to sing for him at the White House. He listened attentively as they sang his favorite, “Go Down Moses.”The singers closed out their first season in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and returned to Nashville on May 2, 1872. They brought with them $20,000 to pay the school debts and to purchase Fort Gillem, the present site of Fisk.The troupe was beginning to get the recognition it had long awaited. The singers added two more voices and in April 1873, set sail for London, England. Under the sponsorship of the Earl of Shaftsbury, they performed at the Willis’ Rooms, one of the most aristocratic concert halls in the city.“The singers walk quietly on the platform and fill their row of chairs at the back,” wrote one London reporter. “The first chords came floating on our senses like gentle fairy music and they were delivered with exquisite precision of time and accent.” Queen Victoria was just ^s enthralled when she traveled to Argoyle Lodge where the group sang by invitation of the Duke and Duchess of Argoyle. Afterhearing them, the Queen wept and said she had not been comforted by anything so much since the deathof her husband.As the group’s songs filled the hearts of their listeners, they also filled their treasury On Jan. 1873, enough money was made to start building Jubilee Hall at Fisk. The Victorian Gothic structure was completed two years later and still stands today. The land surrounding it was named Victoria Square, in honor of Queen Victoria.Inside the hall is a floor-to-ceiling portrait of theoriginal singers, painted by Edward Havell, portrait painter for the court of Queen Victoria.“I get a feeling of nostalgia everytime I see that painting,” said Michangelo Scruggs of St. Louis, Mo , a Jubilee singer for three years. “I know the trials and tribulations they must have gone through. I’m proud to follow in their footsteps ”Ponder said he has plans to restore national recognition to the Jubilee Singers They include a possible album, a tour of the country, and a trip to Europe next summer is in the works. The university is currently looking for sponsors, Ponder said.
Newspaper Details
Wilson Daily Times
Wilson, North Carolina, US
Fri, Oct 27, 1995
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Wikipedia U.
USA 11 Feb 2019
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