The Fisk School Convenes For Classes

The Fisk School, forerunner of Fisk University, convened classes for the first time on January 9, 1866, in former Union army barracks in Nashville, Tennessee.

The school was named for General Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmen's Bureau who provided the facility.

Fisk University, incorporated on August 22, 1867, is one of several historically black colleges founded with help from the American Missionary Association. The organization was formed in 1846 from three antislavery societies involved in the effort to colonize freed slaves overseas. Other schools founded by the AMA include Atlanta University, Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), and Howard University.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers, organized in 1867, began touring the United States and Europe in 1871 to raise money for the university. Renowned for their discipline and high standards of musical performance, they brought international attention to traditional African-American sacred music. Jubilee Hall, the first permanent structure built in the South for the education of African Americans, was constructed with proceeds from the Singers' tours.

Fisk University is a historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to build the first building for the education of freedmen. They succeeded and funded construction of the renowned Jubilee Hall, now a designated National Historic Landmark. The 40-acre campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1930 Fisk was the first African-American institution to gain accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Accreditations for specialized programs quickly followed. In 1952, Fisk was the first predominantly black college to earn a Phi Beta Kappa charter.

On March 12, 2008, Nashville's Metro Council passed a resolution declaring March 19 Fisk University Day in honor of its record of academic excellence.