[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 61 (Tuesday, April 9, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E433]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REINTRODUCTION OF RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF JUBILEE 
                                  DAY

                                  _____
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 9, 2019

  Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce a resolution 
supporting the goals and ideals of Jubilee Day, which is celebrated on 
October 6th of every year by the Fisk University community.
  Just after the end of the Civil War, the Fisk School was founded in 
Nashville, Tennessee as an educational institute that would be open to 
all, regardless of race or age. However, just five years after its 
founding, the school faced dire economic struggles.
  In an effort to save the University from closing, a group of students 
formed a choral group, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, with the goal of 
raising money to fund the institution. They took all of the funds in 
the university's treasury for travel expenses, hoping that the enormous 
risk would pay off.
  Despite a few initial struggles, the Jubilee Singers eventually came 
to tour throughout the United States and Europe and raised enough funds 
to not only preserve the University, but also to pay for the 
construction of Jubilee Hall, the first permanent structure built for 
the education of African American students in the South.
  The singers performed for such notable figures as William Lloyd 
Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Ulysses S. Grant, William Gladstone, Mark 
Twain, Johann Strauss, and Queen Victoria. Through their music they 
introduced the world to the spirituals of enslaved Africans as a 
musical genre.
  Since its founding in 1866, Fisk University has educated countless 
intellectuals, artists, and civic leaders, and has played a pivotal 
role in the advancement of education for African American students. 
None of its accomplishments would have been possible without the 
talents and sacrifices of that first group of nine students.
  Madam Speaker, as a proud alumnus of Fisk University, I urge my 
colleagues to honor the hard work, perseverance, and accomplishments of 
the original Jubilee Singers by cosponsoring this resolution, and I 
urge its immediate consideration.

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