Fisk Jubilee Singers Bring Spirituals to the World

Nine formerly enslaved students and freedpeople from Fisk University in Nashville began a world tour in 1871 to raise money for their cash-strapped institution. The Jubilee Singers introduced the African American spiritual — "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Go Down Moses," "Deep River" — to Northern and European audiences. They raised $150,000, saved Fisk, and permanently established the spiritual as a recognized art form, performing for President Grant and Queen Victoria.