What Is Fisk University?

3 min read

  • 5 sections
  • 2 tables
  • 4 sources cited

Fisk University is a private, historically Black liberal arts college in Nashville, founded in 1866 and the oldest institution of higher education in the city (Wikipedia). Its 40-acre campus sits on a small hill about two miles northwest of downtown, on Jefferson Street, on the site of Fort Gillem, a Union fort during the Civil War. The campus is a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. Fisk is also home to the Fisk Jubilee Singers, whose 1870s tours raised the money for Jubilee Hall. Fisk reported 1,006 students in spring 2025: 982 undergraduates and 24 graduate and first professional students (Fisk University, Spring 2025 Enrollment Statistics).

Fisk at a Glance

What the sources say
Opened January 9, 1866, as the Fisk Free Colored School, in former military barracks near Union Station (Wikipedia)
Founders John Ogden, Erastus Milo Cravath, and Edward Parmelee Smith of the American Missionary Association (Wikipedia)
Name for Clinton B. Fisk, a Union general and assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau of Tennessee (Wikipedia)
University reorganized and incorporated as Fisk University in 1867 (Wikipedia)
Campus 40 acres, dedicated in 1876; recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1978 (Wikipedia)
Jubilee Hall completed in 1876; a National Historic Landmark since December 2, 1974 (Wikipedia, NHL list)
Accreditation in 1930, the first historically Black college accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (Wikipedia)
Enrollment 1,006 students in spring 2025 (Fisk University)

The landmark date is from Wikipedia’s list of National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee; Wikipedia’s Fisk Jubilee Singers article gives 1975 for the same designation.

A Short History

  1. 1866 to 1867: the school opened in January 1866. Enrollment rose to 900 in its first months, with students ranging in age from seven to 70. In 1867 it was incorporated as Fisk University.
  2. 1871: facing financial distress, the school sent its choir on tour under treasurer George L. White. The Fisk Jubilee Singers toured the U.S. and Europe and sang before Ulysses S. Grant, Mark Twain, and Queen Victoria. Their story is told in who the Fisk Jubilee Singers were.
  3. 1876: the campus on the former Fort Gillem site was dedicated, and Jubilee Hall was completed.
  4. 1915 to 1925: under president Fayette Avery McKenzie, Fisk raised a $1 million endowment. McKenzie was forced to resign after student protests over his strict rules on dress, activities, and student life in 1924 and 1925.
  5. 1946: sociologist Charles S. Johnson became Fisk’s first African American president.
  6. 1960: Fisk students joined the Nashville sit-ins against segregated lunch counters; John Lewis and Diane Nash were among the student leaders.
  7. 2018 to 2020: the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed Fisk on probation in 2018, citing failings in financial responsibility and control of research funds; Fisk was taken off probation in 2020.

Source: Wikipedia.

Alumni

Alumnus Class Known for
W. E. B. Du Bois 1888 sociologist and scholar; first African American to earn a PhD from Harvard
John Hope Franklin 1935 historian; author of From Slavery to Freedom
Nikki Giovanni 1967 poet and author
John Lewis 1967 congressman and civil rights activist
Diane Nash founding member of SNCC
Hazel O'Leary former U.S. Secretary of Energy; later Fisk's 14th president, 2004 to 2013

Source: Wikipedia, list of Fisk University alumni.

Art on Campus

  • The Stieglitz Collection: in 1949, Georgia O’Keeffe, as executrix of Alfred Stieglitz’s estate, donated 101 works from his collection to Fisk. After a court challenge over the planned sale of two paintings, Fisk and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art agreed to share the collection’s display rights, rotating every two years; Fisk keeps ownership. It is housed in the Carl Van Vechten Gallery, an 1888 building that was once the gymnasium.
  • Aaron Douglas murals: the Harlem Renaissance painter was commissioned in 1930 to paint murals for the library, Cravath Hall, and later taught at Fisk.

Source: Wikipedia.

Visiting

  1. Getting there: the campus is on Jefferson Street in North Nashville; the neighborhood is described in what is happening in North Nashville right now.
  2. Gallery hours and campus visits: check with the university before you go.
  3. The Music City connection: the story that Queen Victoria gave Nashville the name Music City is a legend; how the nickname actually took hold is in why Nashville is called Music City.

Related posts:

  1. What Is There to Do in Franklin Tennessee for a Half-Day Trip? Spend most of the half day at the Civil War sites run by the Battle of Franklin Trust, then walk downtown. Franklin is about 21 miles south of Lower Broadway,......
  2. Who Lives in East Nashville? In the 37206 ZIP code, the core of East Nashville, about 28,500 people live on 7.8 square miles. The median age there is 34, younger than the Nashville metro's 36.9.......
  3. Are There International Flights From Nashville? Yes. As of October 2026, Nashville International Airport (BNA) has nonstop flights to London Heathrow on British Airways, Dublin on Aer Lingus, seasonal Reykjavík on Icelandair, several Canadian cities, and......
  4. Can You Bike Around Nashville? Yes, and the greenways let you ride away from car traffic: Nashville has more than 110 miles of paved, multi-use greenway paths, according to the nonprofit Greenways for Nashville. Riding......
  5. Can You Get Hot Chicken Delivered in Nashville? Yes. Hattie B's Hot Chicken takes delivery orders directly: its FAQ says to use the "Order" button on its website or its app to order for delivery or pickup (Hattie......
  6. Can You Make Nashville Hot Chicken at Home? Yes. The step that makes it Nashville hot chicken, and not just spicy fried chicken, comes after frying: the fried chicken is coated in a cayenne paste. Wikipedia describes the......
  7. Can You Park for Free in Nashville Neighborhoods? Sometimes. Outside downtown, parking on a residential street without a meter or a restriction sign costs nothing, but neighborhood commercial strips can be metered, and some blocks near busy areas......
  8. Can You Walk Between Nashville Neighborhoods? You can walk between some Nashville neighborhoods, mainly the ones next to downtown: the Gulch and SoBro are short walks from Lower Broadway, and Germantown and the east bank across......
  9. Do You Need a Car in Nashville? You do not need a car in Nashville if you stay downtown and spend most of your trip around Lower Broadway, the Ryman, and the Country Music Hall of Fame,......
  10. Does It Snow in Nashville? Yes, but not much. Nashville averages about 4.7 inches of snow a year under the official 1991 to 2020 climate normals for Nashville International Airport, and a typical year has......
  11. Does Nashville Airport Have Good Food? If good airport food means Nashville food, yes: BNA's terminal has outposts of local brands, including Hattie B's Hot Chicken, Party Fowl, Slim & Husky's Pizza Beeria, and Tootsie's Orchid......
  12. Does Nashville Have a Starbucks Problem? The sources point the other way: Nashville has a deep bench of local coffee shops, and the chains sit alongside them. The Infatuation's Nashville coffee guide, updated April 30, 2026,......
  13. Does Tennessee Have a State Income Tax? No. Tennessee does not tax personal income of any kind, so wages, salaries, interest, and dividends are all free of state income tax. Its last personal income tax, the Hall......
  14. How Bad Is Nashville Traffic? Nashville traffic ranks among the worst in the country: the INRIX 2025 Traffic Scorecard placed Nashville 12th in the U.S. and 30th in the world for congestion, with drivers losing......