[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 23689-23690]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT THE UNITED 
 STATES POSTAL SERVICE SHOULD ISSUE A POSTAGE STAMP COMMEMORATING THE 
                          FISK JUBILEE SINGERS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 30, 2003

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida.  Mr. Speaker, today I am proud to introduce 
a resolution calling on the U.S. Postal Service to honor the Fisk 
Jubilee Singers with a commemorative stamp.
  The Fisk Jubilee Singers are true heroes in the fight for civil 
rights and racial equality in education. Their heritage goes back more 
than one hundred and thirty years to just after the Civil War. These 
singers are part of a unique group of former slaves who made it their 
passion to achieve the kind of education that they did not have access 
to before emancipation. Their spirit has been felt all across this 
nation and around the world, and it is my honor to stand before you 
today to tell you about the legacy of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, whom I 
hold near to my heart.
  The Fisk School was founded in Nashville, Tennessee, just after the 
end of the Civil War. This school was intended to transcend the racial 
divide, with the founders of the University opening the doors of 
education to all persons, regardless of their race. Recently 
emancipated slaves, ecstatic at the limitless possibilities for freedom 
offered by learning, took it upon themselves to create in the Fisk 
School an educational institution that would give to them a sense of 
profound moral purpose in the great American democracy. The sale of 
slave paraphernalia paid for the opening of the school, and in 1867 the 
Fisk School became Fisk University, now the oldest university in 
Nashville.
  Fisk University's accomplishments in the advancement of educational 
opportunities for African-American's is far too long to mention here. I 
will tell you briefly that some of the most honored African-American 
artists, thinkers and activists attended or were involved with Fisk, 
including W.E.B DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Charles Spurgeon Johnson, 
James Weldon Johnson, and Thurgood Marshall, to name a few of the more 
distinguished African-Americans. Indeed, Fisk University played an 
enormously profound role in the advancement of black learning and 
culture in America. I am both humbled by and proud of the time that I, 
too, spent at Fisk University. Many of the values I hold dear to my 
heart today I learned from my colleagues and professors at Fisk.
  It was in 1871 that a group of students at Fisk University formed a 
choral group that they named the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

[[Page 23690]]

  Mr. Speaker, the Fisk Jubilee Singers have made a lasting 
contribution to racial equality and black culture in America. They 
introduced the spiritual as a musical genre, and demonstrated a truly 
unique commitment to their education. It is time that we in Congress 
honor their incredible achievements in such a manner that all of 
America will come to know of their commitment.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to pass my resolution encouraging 
the Postal Service to issue a postage stamp commemorating the legacy 
and achievements of the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

                          ____________________