[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 381 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 381

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
 States Postal Service should issue a postage stamp commemorating the 
                         Fisk Jubilee Singers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 30, 2003

 Mr. Hastings of Florida submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
 States Postal Service should issue a postage stamp commemorating the 
                         Fisk Jubilee Singers.

Whereas 6 months after the end of the Civil War, the Fisk School was established 
        in Nashville, Tennessee;
Whereas the Fisk School was designed by its founders to be an educational 
        institution open to all, regardless of race or age;
Whereas the Fisk School was incorporated as Fisk University in 1867;
Whereas funding for the opening of the school was secured through the sale of 
        slave paraphernalia;
Whereas in 1871, a group of students at Fisk University formed a choral group, 
        the Fisk Jubilee Singers, with the goal of raising money to finance the 
        institution;
Whereas in that same year, the Fisk Jubilee Singers took all the funds in the 
        University treasury with them for travel expenses and set off on a tour 
        of the United States and Europe;
Whereas during their first tour, the Jubilee Singers raised enough money to 
        preserve their university and pay for the construction of Jubilee Hall, 
        the South's first permanent structure built for the education of black 
        students;
Whereas the Jubilee Singers introduced the world to the spiritual as a musical 
        genre; and
Whereas the Fisk Jubilee Singers continue to tour and perform and have received 
        countless awards and honors: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the United States Postal Service should issue a postage 
        stamp commemorating the Fisk Jubilee Singers; and
            (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend 
        to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued.
                                 <all>