 Jubilee Hall | |
Former names | The Fisk Freed Colored School (1866–1867) |
|---|---|
| Motto | "Her sons and daughters are ever on the altar"[1] |
| Type | Privatehistorically blackliberal arts college |
| Established | 1866; 159 years ago (1866) |
Religious affiliation | United Church of Christ (historically related) |
Academic affiliations | UNCF ORAU CIC |
| President | Agenia Walker Clark[2] |
Academic staff | 70 full-time |
| Students | 1,055 (fall 2022)[3] |
| Location | , U.S. 36°10′08″N86°48′17″W / 36.1688°N 86.8047°W /36.1688; -86.8047 |
| Campus | Urban, 40 acres (16 ha) |
| Language | English |
| Colors | Gold and blue |
| Nickname | Bulldogs |
Sporting affiliations | NAIA –HBCUAC |
| Mascot | The Fisk Bulldog |
| Website | www |
 | |
Fisk University is aprivatehistorically blackliberal arts college inNashville, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1866 and its 40-acre (16 ha) campus is a historic district listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
In 1930, Fisk became the first historically black institution to gainaccreditation by theSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Fisk is the oldest institution for higher education in Nashville.[4][5]
Fisk Free Colored School opened on January 9, 1866, during theReconstruction era shortly after the end of the Civil War. It was founded byJohn Ogden,Erastus Milo Cravath, andEdward Parmelee Smith of theAmerican Missionary Association for the education offreedmen in Nashville.[6] Fisk was one of several schools and colleges that the Association helped found across the South to educate freed slaves. The school is named forClinton B. Fisk, a Union general and assistant commissioner of theFreedmen's Bureau of Tennessee. Fisk secured a site to house the school in a former military barracks nearUnion Station and provided $30,000 of government funds for its endowment.[7][8]
The American Missionary Association's work was supported by theCongregationalist church, which retains an affiliation with Fisk.[9] Fisk is the oldest higher education institution in Nashville.[10]
Enrollment rose to 900 in the first several months following the school's opening, indicating the strong desire for education among local freedmen. Student ages ranged from seven to 70.[7]
During the nation's Reconstruction era, theTennessee General Assembly passed legislation to enable free public education, which caused a need to increase teacher training. In 1867 the Fisk Free Colored School was reorganized and incorporated as Fisk University to focus on higher education.[8][7]James Dallas Burrus,John Houston Burrus,Virginia E. Walker, andAmerica W. Robinson were the first students to enroll at the institution. In 1875, the two Burruses and Walker graduated from Fisk and became the first African-American students to graduate from a liberal arts college south of the Mason–Dixon line.[11][12]
TheTennessee Constitution of 1870 was ratified with a provision, Article XI § 12, that prohibited public schools from enrolling both Black and White students.[13] In 1869, the University of Tennessee (then Eastern Tennessee University) had been designated a federalland-grant university, which meant that it was required to enroll all qualified citizens of the state, regardless of race or color. To get around the requirement ofintegration, ETU paid tuition for Black students with State Scholarships to enroll at Fisk University in 1881–83.[13] The contract was changed toKnoxville College in 1884.
In 1870, Adam K. Spence became the school's principal. Spence developed plans to expand and move the school to a larger campus in north Nashville on a site that had been Fort Gillem, a Union army base.[14][15] To raise money for the school's initiatives, his wife Catherine Mackie Spence traveled throughout the United States to set up mission Sunday schools in support of Fisk students, organizing endowments through the American Missionary Association.[16] With a strong interest in religion and the arts, Adam Spence supported the founding of a student choir; they were the start of theFisk Jubilee Singers.
With the school facing financial distress, the choir went on tour to raise funds in 1871, led by professor and university treasurer George L. White.[7][17] They toured the U.S. and Europe and became a sensation, singing beforeUlysses S. Grant,Mark Twain,Queen Victoria; popularizing spirituals written byWallace Willis such as "Swing Low Sweet Chariot"; and changing racial stereotypes.[18][19][17] Their tour raised nearly $50,000 (~$1.16 million in 2024) and funded construction ofJubilee Hall. (InW.E.B. Du Bois' bookThe Souls of Black Folk, this number is quoted at $150,000).[20] It was the first building built for the education of freedmen in the South and is now aNational Historic Landmark.[21]
Fisk co-founder Cravath returned in 1875 and became the institution's first president.[22] He oversaw an active construction program and expansion of the school's curriculum offerings to include liberal arts, theology, and teacher training. By the turn of the 20th century, it had strengthened its reputation, built several campus buildings, added African-American teachers and staff, and enrolled a second generation of students.[21][22]
James Griswold Merrill served as acting president of Fisk from 1899 to 1901, then continued as the institution's president from 1901 to 1908.[23] Fisk University's dedication toliberal arts education at the turn of the century distinguished it from many other black colleges and universities that emphasizedvocational training.[24] The school established a department ofsocial science in 1910, founded and directed byGeorge E. Haynes. It was the firstsocial work training center for African-American graduate students and a model for those established at other institutions.[25][26] The school was criticized by some at the time for fostering an elitist reputation.[27]
From 1915 to 1925,Fayette Avery McKenzie was president of Fisk. McKenzie's tenure, before and afterWorld War I, was during a turbulent period in American history. In spite of many challenges, McKenzie developed Fisk as the premier all-Black college or university in the United States, secured Fisk's academic recognition as a standard college by theCarnegie Foundation,Columbia University and theUniversity of Chicago, raised a $1 million endowment fund to ensure quality faculty, and laid a foundation for Fisk's accreditation and future success.[28] McKenzie was eventually forced to resign when his strict policies on dress code, extracurricular activities, and other aspects of student life led tostudent protests in 1924 and 1925.
Thomas Elsa Jones became the institution's fourth president in 1925. He sought to diversify Fisk's faculty and further build the school's reputation.[29] In 1930, Fisk became the first historically black college to gainaccreditation by theSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools. It was also the first such institution approved by theAssociation of American Universities in 1933. Accreditations for specialized programs soon followed.
In 1946,Charles S. Johnson became Fisk's sixth president and first African-American president.[22] Johnson was a premiersociologist, a scholar who had also been the editor ofOpportunity magazine, a noted periodical of theHarlem Renaissance. Johnson expanded the school's Institute of Race Relations, which was established in 1942. The institute conducted research and fostered discussion about racial disparity in the U.S. and would later help develop strategies for desegregation in schools, employment, and the military.[29][30][31][24] In 1949, Fisk received theStieglitz Collection of modern art from photographer and arts patronAlfred Stieglitz.
In 1952, Fisk was the first predominantly black college to earn aPhi Beta Kappa charter.[32] Organized as the Delta of Tennessee Chapter of thePhi Beta Kappa National Honor Society that December, the chapter inducted its first student members on April 4, 1953. Established in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest and most prestigious academic honor society in the U.S.
In 1960, Fisk students joined other black leaders in theNashville sit-ins, nonviolent protests against segregation at lunch counters in the city during thecivil rights movement.[33]Martin Luther King Jr., spoke at the institution in May 1960 in response to civil rights movement in the city.[34] Fisk studentsJohn Lewis andDiane Nash were leaders during the protests, which led to Nashville becoming the first major city in the South to desegregate lunch counters.[35] The two became early leaders of the nationalStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
On April 8, 1967, a riot occurred near the Fisk andTennessee State University campuses afterStokely Carmichael spoke atVanderbilt University.[36] Although it was viewed as a "race riot", it had classist characteristics.[36] Protestors marched from Fisk to the Nashville courthouse to protest police brutality during the riots.[37]
In 1978 Fisk's campus was recognized as aNational Historic Landmark.[8] The campus underwent significant restoration in the 1990s through assistance from a U.S. Congressional Grant.[22]
From 2004 to 2013, Fisk was directed by its 14th president,Hazel O'Leary, formerSecretary of Energy underPresidentBill Clinton. She was the second woman to serve as president of Fisk. On June 25, 2008, Fisk announced that it had successfully raised $4 million (~$5.7 million in 2024) during the fiscal year ending June 30. It ended nine years of budget deficits and qualified for aMellon Foundation challenge grant.[38][39] However, Fisk still faced significant financial hardship, and said that it may need to close its doors unless its finances improved.[40]
H. James Williams served as president from February 2013 to September 2015. Williams had been dean of theSeidman College of Business atGrand Valley State University in Michigan, and previously an accounting professor atGeorgetown University,Florida A&M, andTexas Southern University.[41][42][43] Williams was succeeded by interim president Frank Sims.[44] In March 2017 the Fisk board of trustees announced that Kevin Rome would be Fisk university's seventeenth president.[45]
In June 2017, a service in memory of 1892 lynching victimEphraim Grizzard was held in the Fisk Memorial Chapel. A plaque memorializing Grizzard and two other lynching victims—his brother Henry and Samuel Smith—was installed at St. Anselm's Episcopal church in Nashville.[46]
In 2018 theSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools placed the institution on probation. The accreditor cited failings related to financial responsibility, control of research funds, and federal and state responsibility.[47] Fisk announced a fundraising record and increased enrollment the following year.[48] In 2020, Fisk was taken off probation and maintained its accreditation.[49]
Fisk University Historic District | |
| Location | Roughly bounded by 16th and 18th Aves., Hermosa, Herman and Jefferson Sts. Nashville, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Architectural style | Italianate; Queen Anne |
| NRHP reference No. | 78002579 |
| Added to NRHP | February 9, 1978 |
Fisk's 40-acre campus was dedicated in 1876. It sits on a small hill approximately two miles northwest of downtown that was previously Fort Gillem, aUnion fort during theCivil War.[50] The campus lies onJefferson Street, a historic center of Nashville's African-American community.
The Fisk University Historic District was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1978. Notable campus buildings that contribute to the historic district include:
Additional campus buildings listed on the register include Little Theater, Harris Music Building, numerous residential structures, and a limestone wall built around 1873.[55]
In the 1930s, Fisk hired theOlmsted Brothers firm to lead a master design of its campus at this time, resulting in the Beaux-Arts landscape.[60][61]
![Theological Hall (later Bennett Hall). The building was demolished.[62]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFisk_uni_theo_hall.jpg)
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Fisk is the home of a music literature collection founded by the notedHarlem Renaissance figureCarl Van Vechten, for whom the campus museum is named.[63] It also holds a substantial collection of materials associated withCharles W. Chestnutt.[64]
Harlem Renaissance painterAaron Douglas was commissioned to paint murals for the new campus library, Cravath Hall, in 1930. Douglas described them a "panorama of the development of Black people in this hemisphere, in the new world." Douglas returned to Fisk in 1939 to teach and later served as chair of the art department. The murals were restored in 2003.[65][66]
In 1949,Georgia O'Keeffe, wife and executrix of her late husband's estate, in accordance with the terms of his will, donated to Fisk a number of paintings that had belonged to her husband, the photographer and art patronAlfred Stieglitz. The collection consists of 101 works by important artists, including European modernistsPaul Cézanne,Pierre-Auguste Renoir,Pablo Picasso andDiego Rivera, as well as American artistsMarsden Hartley,Arthur Dove andCharles Demuth and works by O'Keeffe.[67]
In 2005, mounting financial difficulties and deteriorating conditions in the gallery led the trustees to vote to sell two of the paintings, O'Keeffe's "Radiator Building" and Hartley's "Painting No. 3," together estimated to be worth up to $45 million U.S. The sale was challenged by theGeorgia O'Keeffe Museum, the legal guardians of her estate. This challenge failed. A joint agreement was established between Fisk University and theCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art.[68][69][70][71] The two museums now share the works' presentation and display rights of the Stieglitz collection; ownership remains with Fisk University, in accord with the terms of Stieglitz's estate. Presentation and display rights rotate between Fisk University and Crystal Bridges Museum every two years. In 2016, as part of the institution's sesquicentennial celebration, the collection was displayed at the newly renovated Carl Van Vechten Gallery.[67]
Fisk University has a strong record of academic excellence: it has graduated more African Americans who go on to earn PhDs in the natural sciences than any other institution.[72]
Started in 2004,[73] the Fisk-Vanderbilt bridge program helps underrepresented groups gain access to PhD programs inSTEM fields. The partnership between a small, historically black college and a major research university aims to diversify doctoral study.[74] The program, which has received money fromNASA, theNational Science Foundation, and the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship,[75] provides a scholarship for a master's degree at Fisk University and close mentorship for students who go on to a PhD[73] Since 2004, 21 students in the program have completed a PhD, with another 56 currently pursuing graduate study.[73] The program has a success rate far higher than the national average for completion of PhD programs, which is about 50%.[76]
| Academic rankings | |
|---|---|
| Liberal arts | |
| U.S. News & World Report[77] | 171–221 |
| Washington Monthly[78] | 199 |
| National | |
| Forbes[79] | 642 |
The Fisk athletic teams are called the Bulldogs. The institution is a member of theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA),[83] primarily competing in theHBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC), formerly the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC), since the 2021–22 academic year; which they were a member on a previous stint from 2010–11 to 2013–14.[84] The Bulldogs previously competed as anNAIA Independent within the Association of Independent Institutions (AII) from 2014–15 to 2020–21 (which they were a member on a previous stint from 2008–09 to 2009–10); in the defunctGreat South Athletic Conference (GSAC) of theNCAA Division III ranks from 1999–2000 to 2005–06; in the D-IIISouthern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) from 1983–84 to 1993–94; and in theSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) from 1913–14 to 1982–83, which is currently anNCAA Division II athletic conference.
Fisk competes in 14 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer and track and field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, tennis, track and field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. In 2022, Fisk became the first HBCU to officially add a competitive women's gymnastics team, however the program will disband after the 2025-2026 season due to financial concerns at the institution.[85][3] Club sports include cheerleading and dance.
| Name | Department | Notability | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camille Akeju | Art | Art historian and museum administrator | [86] |
| Ebenezer Ako-Adjei | African studies | Ghanaian politician and founding member of theUnited Gold Coast Convention | |
| Arna Bontemps | Librarian | Headlibrarian andHarlem Renaissance poet | [87] |
| Miriam Eliza Carey | Librarian | teacher | |
| Minnie Lou Crosthwaite | teacher, college administrator, activist | ||
| Aaron Douglas | Art | Harlem Renaissance painter, illustrator, and muralist | [88] |
| Nelson Fuson | Physics | Physics professor, Quaker activist | [89] |
| Robert Hayden | United States Poet Laureate (1976–1978) | [90] | |
| Charles Spurgeon Johnson | President, Research | First African-Americanpresident of Fisk University | [91] |
| James Weldon Johnson | Literature | Author,poet, and civil rights activist; wrote the poem on which the song "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" is based (also known as the Black national anthem) | [92] |
| Thomas Elsa Jones | President | Fifthpresident of Fisk University | [93] |
| Percy Lavon Julian | Chemistry | Chemist and second African-American member of theNational Academy of Sciences | [94] |
| Anne Gamble Kennedy | Music | Concertpianist, piano professor, and accompanist for theFisk Jubilee Singers | |
| Matthew Kennedy | Music | Concert pianist, piano professor, and director of theFisk Jubilee Singers (1957–1986 intermittently) | [95] |
| John Oliver Killens | Writer in Residence | Two-timePulitzer Prize nominee | [96] |
| Lee Lorch | Mathematics | Mathematician and civil rights activist. Fired in 1955 for refusing to testify before theHouse Un-American Activities Committee. | [97] |
| Hazel R. O'Leary | President | First woman and first African-AmericanU.S. Secretary of Energy; fourteenthpresident of Fisk University | [98] |
| Helen Clarissa Morgan | Latin | First woman to be appointed professor ofLatin (1869–1907) at a coeducational college | [99] |
| Robert E. Park | Sociology | Sociologist of theChicago School | [100] |
| Jessie Carney Smith | Librarian | Headlibrarian and scholar | [101] |
| John W. Work III | Music | Choir director,ethnomusicologist, and scholar of Afro-American folk music | [102] |
