Fisk University

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Fisk University
Fisk 1001.jpg
Fisk University's Emblem
Motto Her sons and daughters are forever on the altar[1]
Established 1866
Type Private, HBCU
Religious affiliation United Church of Christ (historically related)
Chairman Robert W. Norton
President Hazel R. O'Leary
Provost Princilla Evans Morris
Academic staff 70
Students 800
Location Nashville, Tennessee,
United States
36°10′08″N 86°48′17″W / 36.1688°N 86.8047°W / 36.1688; -86.8047Coordinates: 36°10′08″N 86°48′17″W / 36.1688°N 86.8047°W / 36.1688; -86.8047
Campus Urban, 40 acres (16 ha)
Former names The Fisk Freed Colored School
Colours Gold and Blue
         Blue and Gold
Nickname Bulldogs
Mascot The Fisk Bulldog
Affiliations United Negro College Fund, SACS
Website www.fisk.edu
FiskUniversityLogo.png

Fisk University is a historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The 40-acre (160,000 m2) 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. Organized as the Delta of Tennessee Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society that December, the chapter inducted its first student members on April 4, 1953.

Contents

History [edit]

University namesake Clinton B. Fisk
A class c. 1900

In 1866 six months after the end of the American Civil War, leaders of the northern American Missionary Association (AMA): John Ogden, Reverend Erastus Milo Cravath, field secretary; and Reverend Edward Parmelee Smith founded the Fisk Free Colored School, for the education of freedmen. AMA support meant the organization tried to use its sources across the country to aid education for freedmen. Enrollment jumped from 200 to 900 in the first several months of the school, indicating freedmen's strong desire for education, with ages of students ranging from seven to seventy. The school was named in honor of General Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmen's Bureau, who made unused barracks available to the school, as well as establishing the first free schools for white and black children in Tennessee. In addition, he endowed Fisk with a total of $30,000.[2] The American Missionary Association's work was supported by the United Church of Christ, which retains an affiliation with the university.[3] Fisk opened to classes on January 9, 1866.[4]

With Tennessee's passage of legislation to support public education, leaders saw a need for training teachers, and Fisk University was incorporated as a normal school for college training in August 1867. Cravath organized the College Department and the Mozart Society, the first musical organization in Tennessee. Rising enrollment added to the needs of the university. In 1870 Adam Knight Spence became principal of the Fisk Normal School. To raise money for the school's education 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 AMA.[5] With a strong interest in religion and the arts, Adam Spence supported the start of a student choir. In 1871 the student choir went on a fund-raising tour in Europe; they were the start of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. They toured to raise funds to build the first building for the education of freedmen. They raised nearly $50,000 and funded construction of the renowned Jubilee Hall, now a designated National Historic Landmark.[6]When the American Missionary Association declined to assume the financial responsibility of the Jubilee Singers, Professor George L. White, Treasurer of the University, took the responsibility upon himself and started North in 1871 with his troupe. On April 12, 1873, the Jubilee Singers sailed for England where they sang before a fashionable audience in the presence of the Queen, who expressed her gratification at the performance.[4]

During the 1880s Fisk had an active building program, as well as expanding its curriculum offerings. By the turn of the 20th century, it added black teachers and staff to the university, and a second generation of free blacks entered classes.[6]

In 1947 Fisk heralded its first African-American president with the arrival of Charles Spurgeon Johnson. Johnson was a premier sociologist, a scholar who had been the editor of Opportunity magazine, a noted periodical of the Harlem Renaissance.

In 2002 Fisk University and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, established an educational partnership to expand opportunities for students, faculty, and staff at both institutions: Fisk with the special qualities of a small, liberal arts college and Case Western with others as a major research university. "Through the partnership, students have the chance to enroll in dual-degree programs and participate in student exchanges and joint research with a national or international scope. The possibilities that await faculty members at both institutions are equally as stimulating. The collaborative agreement has paved the way for joint research, faculty exchanges, and distance-learning classes facilitated by cutting-edge technology."[7]

Since 2004, Fisk University has been directed by its 14th president, the Honorable Hazel O'Leary, former Secretary of Energy under President Bill Clinton. She is the second woman to serve as president of the university. On June 25, 2008, Fisk announced that it had successfully raised $4 million during the fiscal year ending June 30. It ended nine years of budget deficits and qualified for a Mellon Foundation challenge grant.[citation needed] However, Fisk still faces significant financial hardship, and claims that it may need to close its doors unless its finances improve.[8]

On March 12, 2008, Nashville's Metro Council passed a resolution declaring March 19 as "Fisk University Day" in honor of its record of academic excellence.[9]

Campus [edit]

Fisk University Historic District
Location: Roughly bounded by 16th and 18th Aves., Hermosa, Herman and Jefferson Sts.
Nashville, Tennessee
Architectural style: Italianate; Queen Anne
Governing body: Fisk University
NRHP Reference#: 78002579
Added to NRHP: February 9, 1978

Jubilee Hall, which was recently restored, is the oldest and most distinctive structure of Victorian architecture on the 40 acre (160,000 m²) Fisk campus.

  • Theological Hall, c. 1900

  • Jubilee Hall

  • Fisk Memorial Chapel


Music, art, and literature collections [edit]

Jubilee Hall (Fisk University)

Fisk University is the home of a music literature collection founded by the noted Harlem Renaissance figure Carl Van Vechten.

Alfred Stieglitz Collection [edit]

In 1949, painter Georgia O'Keeffe facilitated the exchange of 99 paintings from the estate of her husband, Alfred Stieglitz. She made an outright gift of two of her own paintings to the school. These are on permanent display at the University's Carl Van Vechten Galleries.

In 2005, mounting financial difficulties led the University trustees to vote to sell two of the paintings, O'Keeffe's "Radiator Building" and Marsden Hartley's "Painting No. 3". (Together these were estimated to be worth up to 45 million U.S. dollars.) However, the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, the legal guardians of her estate, sued to stop the sale on the basis that the original bequest did not allow the art to be sold. At the end of 2007 a plan to share the collection with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to earn money was being fought in court by the O'Keeffe Museum.[10] The O'Keeffe Museum would later withdrew its lawsuit. In October 2010, a judge ruled that a 50% stake in the collection could be sold to Crystal Bridges if modifications to the contract were made so that the University could not lose its interest in the collection, nor could the joint venture holding ownership of the collection between the University and Crystal Bridges be based in Delaware (or outside Tennessee Courts). The modified agreement would allow the works to stay at the University until 2013 and then begin a two-year rotation with Crystal Bridges .[11] In April 2012, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision to allow the sale to move forward. A few months later on August 2nd, The Davidson County Chancery Court approval a Final Agreed Order that establish joint ownership between the University and Crystal Bridges through the newly established Stieglitz Art Collection, LLC. The operating agreement required the University to set aside $3.9 million of the $30 million sale proceeds to be used to establish a fund used for the care and maintenance of the collection at the Van Vechten Gallery at the University.[12][13] The court dispute cost the University $5.8 million in legal fees.[14]

Science programs [edit]

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.[15]

Ranking [edit]

Fisk University is one of four historically black colleges and universities to earn a tier-one ranking on the list of Best National Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2011 edition of Best Colleges by U.S. News and World Reports. Of the 1,400 institutions ranked nationwide, only 246 institutions earned tier one status.[citation needed]

Fisk appears on Parade magazine's "A List" of colleges and universities that offer combined Bachelor's and Master's degree programs.[16]

In 2010, the Washington Monthly ranked Fisk 29th among America's Best Liberal Arts Colleges.[citation needed] In 2011, CBS Money Watch ranked professors at Fisk University 19th out of 650 colleges and universities in the nation.[citation needed]

According to the Princeton Review, Fisk University is one of America's 373 Best Colleges & Universities.[17]

Athletics [edit]

Fisk University teams, nicknamed athletically as the Bulldogs, are part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level, primarily competing in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC). Men's sports include basketball, cross country, tennis and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

Notable alumni [edit]

W.E.B. DuBois
St. Elmo Brady
William L. Dawson (politician)
Charles Diggs
John Hope Franklin
Nikki Giovanni
John Lewis
David Levering Lewis - Pulitzer Prize winner
Hazel O'Leary 7th U.S. Secretary of Energy
Constance Baker Motley
Wade H. McCree
Ida B. Wells
Frederica Wilson Congresswoman
Frank Yerby
Name Class year Notability References
Lil Hardin Armstrong 1915 jazz pianist/composer, second wife of Louis Armstrong
Constance Baker Motley 1941-1942 first African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate
Marion Barry 1960 former mayor of Washington, D.C.
Mary Frances Berry former Chair, United States Commission on Civil Rights; former Chancellor University of Colorado at Boulder
John Betsch 1967 Jazz percusionist
Joyce Bolden first African-American woman to serve on the Commission for Accreditation of the National Association of Schools of Music
Otis Boykin 1942 Inventor, control device for the heart pacemaker
St. Elmo Brady first African American to earn a doctorate in Chemistry
Cora Brown first African-American woman elected to a state senate
Henry Alvin Cameron 1896 Educator, decorated World War I veteran
J.O. Patterson, Jr. 1958 First African American to occupy the office of Mayor of Memphis. Tennessee State Representative, State Senator, Memphis Councilman, Jurisdictional Bishop in the Church of God in Christ
Elizabeth Hortense (Golden) Canady past national president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority
Alfred O. Coffin first African American to earn a doctorate in zoology
Johnnetta B. Cole anthropologist, former President of Spelman College and Bennett College
William L. Dawson (politician) 1909 U.S. Congressman (1943-1970)
Arthur Cunningham 1951 Musical Composer, studied at Juilliard and Columbia University
Charles Diggs United States House of Representatives Michigan (1955-1980)
Mahala Ashley Dickerson 1935 first black female attorney in the state of Alabama and first black president of the National Association of Women Lawyers
W. E. B. Du Bois 1888 sociologist, scholar, first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard
Venida Evans 1969 Actress, best known for Ikea commercials
Etta Zuber Falconer 1953 first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics; former Chair, mathematics department at Spelman College
John Hope Franklin 1935 historian, professor, scholar, author of landmark text From Slavery to Freedom
Victor O. Frazer United States House of Representatives (1995-1997)
Alonzo Fulgham former acting chief and operating officer of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Nikki Giovanni 1967 poet, author, professor, scholar
Louis George Gregory Hand of the Cause in the Bahá'í Faith
Alcee Hastings U.S. Congressman and former U.S. district court judge
Roland Hayes concert singer
Perry Wilbon Howard Assistant U.S. Attorney General under President Herbert Hoover
Elmer Imes 1903 Renowned Physicist and Second African-American to earn a Ph.D in Physics
Esther Cooper Jackson 1940 Founding editor of Freedomways Journal
Leonard Jackson (actor) 1952 Actor, Five on the Black Hand Side; The Color Purple
Robert James former NFL cornerback
Judith Jamison Pioneering Dancer and Choreographer; former artistic Director, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Ted Jarrett R&B recording artist and producer
Dr. Charles Jeter 1971 father of Derek Jeter
Ben Jobe 1956 Legendary basketball coach, Southern University
Lewis Wade Jones 1931 Sociologist; Julius Rosenwald Foundation Fellow at Columbia University
Ella Mae Johnson 1921 at age 105 years old, Ella Mae Johnson traveled to Washington, DC to attend the inauguration of Barack Obama
Matthew Knowles 1973 Father and manager of Beyoncé Knowles
Nella Larsen 1908 Novelist, Harlem Renaissance era
Julius Lester 1960 Author of children's books and former professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
David Levering Lewis Two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner
John Lewis Congressman, civil rights activist, former President of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Jimmie Lunceford 1925 famous bandleader in the swing era
Aubrey Lyles 1903 Vaudville performer
E.M. Lysonge 1998 Former SGA President. Currently serves as Vice President, Legal Affairs at Churchill Downs Incorporated
Mandisa 2001 Grammy and Dove Award-nominated Christian contemporary singer/songwriter, ninth-place finalist in the fifth season (2006) of American Idol
Patti J. Malone 1880 Fisk Jubilee Singer
Louis E. Martin 1933 Godfather of Black Politics
Wade H. McCree 1941 Second African-American United States Solicitor General; Justice, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Samuel A. McElwee 1883 State Senator during the Reconstruction Era and the first African American elected three times to the Tennessee General Assembly
Robert McFerrin first African American male to sing at the Metropolitan Opera and father of Bobby McFerrin
Leslie Meek 1987 Administrative Law Judge, wife of Congressman Kendrick Meek
Ronald E. Mickens Physicist, winner of the Edward Bouchet Award
Theo Mitchell 1960 Senator, South Carolina General Assembly
Undine Smith Moore first Fisk graduate to receive a scholarship to Juilliard, Pulitzer Prize Nominee
Diane Nash founding member of SNCC
Rachel B. Noel Politician; first African-American to serve on the Denver Public Schools Board of Education
Hon. Hazel O'Leary former U.S. Secretary of Energy
Helen Phillips 1928 first African-American to perform with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus
Annette Lewis Phinazee 1939 first black woman to earn a doctorate in library sciences from Columbia University
Anita Ponder Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLC; Super Lawyers (2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009)
Alma Powell wife of Gen. Colin Powell
Kay George Roberts orchestral conductor
Bradley T Sheares former CEO Reliant Pharmaceuticals; former President, H.H. Division, Merck & Co.
Martha Lynn Sherrod Presiding District Court Judge, first African American to win an at-large election in North Alabama since Reconstruction
Lorenzo Dow Turner 1910 Linguist and Chair, African Studies at Roosevelt University
A. Maceo Walker 1930 Businessman, Universal Life Insurance, Tri-State Bank
Ron Walters 1963 Scholar of African-American politics, Chair, Afro-American Studies Brandeis University
Margaret Murray Washington 1890 Lady Principal of Tuskegee Institute and third wife of Booker T. Washington
Ida B. Wells American civil rights activist and women's suffrage advocate
Charles H. Wesley 1911 President of Wilberforce University from 1942 to 1947, and President of Central State College from 1947-1965; third African-American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard
Kym Whitley actress, comedienne
Frederica Wilson 1963 U.S. Representative for Florida's 17th congressional district
Tom Wilson (producer) 1953 Music producer, best known for his work with Bob Dylan and Frank Zappa
Yetta Young 1991 First to produce all African-American celebrity cast of the Obie-Award winning play The Vagina Monologues. Actresses have included Academy Award Winner Mo'Nique and Academy Award Nominee Taraji P. Henson
Frank Yerby 1938 first African-American to publish a best-selling novel

Notable faculty [edit]

Name Department Notability Reference
Camille Akeju Art Art historian & museum administrator [18]
Arna Bontemps Librarian Head Librarian; Harlem Renaissance Poet
Robert Hayden United States Poet Laureate 1976-1978
Charles Spurgeon Johnson President First African American President of Fisk University
Thomas Elsa Jones President Fifth President of Fisk University
Percy Lavon Julian Chemistry first African-American Chemist and second African-American from any field to become a member of the National Academy of Sciences
Lee Lorch Mathematics mathematician and civil rights activist. Fired in 1955 for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Hon. Hazel O'Leary President former U.S. Secretary of Energy
John Oliver Killens Writer in Residence Two-time Pulitzer Prize Nominee
Nikki Giovanni English author, poet, activist
James Weldon Johnson Literature author, poet and civil rights activist, author of Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing, known as the "Negro National Anthem"
John W. Work III Music Choir Director, Ethnomusicologist and scholar of Afro-American folk music
Aaron Douglas Art painter, illustrator, muralist
Robert E. Park Sociology sociologist of the Chicago School

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Welcome". Fisk Memorial Chapel. Retrieved 28 June 2010. 
  2. ^ Reavis L. Mitchell, Jr., Clinton Bowen Fisk, The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002, accessed 8 July 2012
  3. ^ "History of Fisk". Fisk University. Retrieved 8 July 2012. 
  4. ^ a b Reavis L. Mitchell, Jr., Fisk University, The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002, accessed 3 Mar 2009
  5. ^ Biography: Adam Knight Spence, Spence Family Collection, Fisk University Library, accessed 3 Mar 2009[dead link]
  6. ^ a b When the American Missionary Association declined to assume the financial responsibility of the Jubilee Singers, Professor George L. White, Treasurer of the University, took the responsibility upon himself and started North in 1871 with his troupe. On April 12, 1873, the Jubilee Singers sailed for England where they sang before a fashionable audience in the presence of the Queen, who expressed her gratification at the performance. "Fisk University", The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002, accessed 3 Mar 2009
  7. ^ About the Partnership, Case-Western University, accessed 3 Mar 2009[dead link]
  8. ^ Fisk University Struggles Through Financial Crisis, NPR, September 16, 2010
  9. ^ "RESOLUTION NO. RS2008-188". Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. 
  10. ^ "Search for cash turns into battle over art for Fisk University". CNN.com (CNN). 2007-12-27. [dead link]
  11. ^ Kennedy, Randy (11 October 2010), Fisk University in New Bid to Gain Approval to Sell Art, The New York Times, retrieved 12 October 2010 
  12. ^ Pogrebin, Robin (3 August 2012), Legal Battle Over Fisk University Art Collection Ends, The New York Times, retrieved 5 August 2012 
  13. ^ http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2012/08/court_order_sends_fisks_stiegl.html
  14. ^ Allyn, Bobby (4 August 2012), Fisk finalizes deal to sell half-stake of Alfred Stieglitz collection in end to long fight, half-stake sold to Arkansas museum, The Tennessean, retrieved 5 August 2012 
  15. ^ RESOLUTION NO. RS2008-188: A resolution to recognize and declare Fisk University Day in Nashville, Tennessee on March 19, 2008, Nashville Metropolitan Council, accessed 3 Mar 2009
  16. ^ Parade's College "A" List: Combined Bachelor's/Graduate Degree: Fisk University, Parade, accessed 8 July 2012
  17. ^ Princeton Review Best Colleges
  18. ^ Bass, Holly (March-April 2006). "Camille Akeju: New Director Seeks to Rejuvenate Anacostia Museum". Crisis: 37–39. Retrieved 22 April 2012. 

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