Fisk University

Fisk University

Historical marker, higher education, African Americans, HBCU, college, Nashville, Fisk University

Fisk University was established six months after the end of the Civil War by John Ogden, the Reverend Erastus Milo Cravath, and the Reverend Edward P. Smith. They named the school in honor of General Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmen's Bureau, who provided the new institution with facilities in former Union Army barracks near the present site of Nashville's Union Station. The first classes convened on January 9, 1866. Students ranged from ages seven to seventy, and shared common experiences of slavery and poverty. Strongly affiliated with the United Church of Christ, the institution was dreamed to be open to all, regardless of race, and that it would be measured by "the highest standards, not of Negro education, but of American education at its best." The educational institution was incorporated into Fisk University on August 22, 1867. From its earliest days, it played a leadership role in the education of African Americans, producing such traditions as the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

John Ogden, Erastus Milo Cravath, Edward P. Smith, Clinton B. Fisk, American Missionary Association, Freedman Bureau

1866-present

Buildings

Location: D.B. Todd Boulevard and Jackson Street