Fisk University

Fisk University is a private, historically Black university at 1000 17th Avenue North in North Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1866, just after the Civil War ended, it's Nashville's oldest college or university. One of the country's most respected historically Black colleges, it's affiliated with the United Church of Christ. What began as a school for formerly enslaved people in the war's immediate aftermath has become an internationally recognized liberal arts institution whose alumni and students have shaped American history, culture, and civic life for over 150 years.

Founding and Early History

In 1865, John Ogden arrived in Nashville as superintendent of education for the Freedmen's Bureau in Tennessee. The Reverend Edward P. Smith of the American Missionary Association and the Reverend Erastus M. Cravath met with him and agreed that Nashville could be the home of a normal school for African Americans. Late that year, the organizers bought land on the city's outskirts and General Fisk used his connections to secure former Union Army hospital barracks for the school.

General Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmen's Bureau had provided those facilities, and the school was named for him. Located near what's now Union Station, the institution held its first classes on January 9, 1866. That opening class was remarkable. Ages ranged from 7 to 70. Every student had known slavery and poverty, yet they came with an extraordinary hunger for education. Within weeks, enrollment hit 900, showing just how desperately freedmen wanted to learn.

The American Missionary Association, which'd later become part of the United Church of Christ, sponsored the school's founders. Fisk retains that affiliation today.

During Reconstruction, Tennessee's General Assembly passed laws enabling free public education, which meant more teacher training was needed. In 1867, the Fisk Free Colored School was reorganized and incorporated as Fisk University to focus on higher education. A major achievement came in 1875. James Dallas Burrus, John Houston Burrus, and Virginia E. Walker graduated that year, becoming the first African-American students to finish a liberal arts college south of the Mason-Dixon line.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers

By 1871, things had gotten desperate. The buildings were falling apart and enrollment kept growing. Closure seemed likely. But the student choir had an idea: they'd go on tour and raise money through concerts. Eleven students left Nashville on October 6, 1871, carrying the entire university treasury with them for travel costs. They sang and prayed the music would save their school.

At first, they struggled. But soon their performances moved audiences to tears across America and Europe. William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Ulysses S. Grant, William Gladstone, Mark Twain, Johann Strauss, and Queen Victoria all heard them. The world knew them as the Fisk Jubilee Singers. They introduced audiences everywhere to the Negro spiritual as a distinct American musical form. What they did went way beyond saving the university financially. They fundamentally changed how American and European audiences understood Black music and culture.

After a year touring Europe, the singers came home in May 1874. They'd raised nearly fifty thousand dollars, enough to build a new structure called Jubilee Hall on the new campus. This building holds special significance. It was the South's first permanent structure built for Black education, and as a National Historic Landmark, it remains the dramatic center of Fisk's campus today.

Every October 6, Fisk honors that departure. The modern Jubilee Singers, a Grammy Award-winning group, perform at a university convocation and then make a pilgrimage to the graves of the original singers, bringing the past into the present.

Campus and Historic Designation

The campus was dedicated in 1876. It sits on a small hill about two miles northwest of downtown Nashville on the former site of Fort Gillem, a Union fort during the Civil War. You'll find it near Jefferson Street, the heart of Nashville's African-American community. The 47-acre campus provides an intimate environment. The student-to-faculty ratio is 8 to 1.

In 1978, the Fisk University Historic District made it onto the National Register of Historic Places. That same year, the broader campus received National Historic Landmark status. A U.S. Congressional grant helped fund significant restoration work in the 1990s.

Carnegie Hall stands out architecturally. Originally built as a library in 1908, it was the first major building designed by Moses McKissack III, co-founder of the first African-American-owned architecture firm in the country. The Carl Van Vechten Gallery, built in 1888, started as a gymnasium before becoming an art gallery named for photographer Carl Van Vechten. Inside, you'll find Fisk's renowned Stieglitz Collection of modern art, which includes works Georgia O'Keeffe donated from photographer Alfred Stieglitz's estate. The collection features paintings by O'Keeffe herself, Pablo Picasso, and Paul Cézanne. The university library holds papers belonging to John Mercer Langston, George Gershwin, W.C. Handy, and alumnus W.E.B. Du Bois.

Fisk announced in March 2026 plans to move forward with a multi-phase renovation project. The goal is to modernize facilities across the historic campus while preserving its landmark character.

Academics and Rankings

The university offers undergraduate degrees in business administration; humanities and fine arts, including religion and philosophy; natural science and mathematics, including computer science; and social sciences, including psychology and public administration. Master's programs exist in biology, chemistry, physics, general and clinical psychology, sociology, and social gerontology. There's also a joint MBA program with Vanderbilt University.

In 1930, Fisk became the first African-American institution accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, a remarkable achievement that came before regional accreditation was widely available to historically Black institutions. Phi Beta Kappa chose Fisk in 1952, making it the first historically Black college or university to receive a chapter of this prestigious honor society.

Research happens here. The Center for Photonic Materials and Devices, funded by NASA, and the Molecular Spectroscopy Research Laboratory reflect Fisk's strength in the natural sciences. In 2025, the university received a $100,000 grant to launch a Student Success Center, which will expand academic support services and improve retention and graduation outcomes.

For the 2026 edition of Best Colleges, U.S. News & World Report ranked Fisk University No. 156 in National Liberal Arts Colleges and No. 35 in Top Performers on Social Mobility. Fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment was 1,035 students. The Bulldogs, Fisk's varsity teams, compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

In October 2025, Fisk appointed Dr. Brian L. Nelms as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. The longtime educator and researcher came to the role focused on strengthening Fisk's academic programs and institutional partnerships.

Civil Rights Legacy

Fisk occupies a central place in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement. Its students led some of the most important activism, especially during the Nashville sit-ins of 1960.

In 1960, Fisk students joined other Black leaders in nonviolent protests against segregation at lunch counters throughout Nashville. Sitting silently in the "white only" sections of local stores, student activists like Diane Nash, Marion Barry, and John Lewis faced violence: rocks, cigarettes, and fists from white onlookers. Authorities jailed over a dozen demonstrators, but Mayor Ben West released them and formed a biracial committee on integration. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Fisk in May 1960 in response to the movement, and that same month, downtown stores began serving African-American customers. Nashville became the first major Southern city to desegregate lunch counters.

John Lewis and Diane Nash didn't stay local. Both became early leaders of the national Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), spreading the Nashville strategies across the country. Thurgood Marshall, who'd become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, participated in Charles S. Johnson's influential Race Relations Institute at Fisk.

Notable Alumni and Faculty

The university's alumni list is remarkable. W.E.B. Du Bois, the writer, civil rights activist, and NAACP co-founder, graduated in 1888 and later taught here. Ida B. Wells, the journalist and anti-lynching crusader, also attended Fisk. Poet Nikki Giovanni is another notable graduate.

Both John Lewis and Diane Nash, central figures in the Nashville sit-ins and the national civil rights movement, studied here. Robert McFerrin Sr. was the first African-American man to perform at the Metropolitan Opera. John Hope Franklin, one of the greatest historians of the African-American experience, earned his degree from Fisk.

See Also

• Jefferson Street
• Vanderbilt University
• Meharry Medical College
• Nashville sit-ins
• North Nashville