The Jubilee Singers

Olivia would rather sing than study - until a portrait of Frederick Douglass comes to life at Whit's End and whisks her back to Fisk University, a school built to teach newly freed slaves after the Civil War. The students there face hunger, crumbling buildings, and worse... a masked rider even fires a bullet into a classroom. Treasurer George White pours in his own savings, but the school keeps sinking toward closure. Then he hears students like Ella Sheppard and Benjamin Holmes singing the spirituals their families passed down through slavery, songs full of sorrow, faith, and hope. White finds chains in an old slave pen and sells them for scrap to buy textbooks, but iron alone won't save Fisk. He becomes convinced his student choir could tour the country and rescue the school - if only Principal Spence would let them go.

Found on Take It from the Top Album 51 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0658 Game for a Mystery When a boy's beloved handheld game vanishes from its hiding spot, an aspiring young detective takes on her very first case.

0659 Target of the Week When Matthew becomes the school bully's designated victim for a week, he decides to stop being afraid and get even - with consequences he never saw coming.

0660 For the Birds When Camilla rescues an orphaned baby blue jay to prove she's ready for a pet of her own, she discovers responsibility demands far more than she imagined - while Eugene wages a baffling battle with the park's suddenly hostile birds.

0661 When You're Right, You're Right Certain she knows best, Emily takes charge of her brother's romantic gesture - whether he wants her help or not.

0662 Grandma's Visit When Grandma Lucia arrives in Odyssey with news that Aunt Rosalita's wedding will happen at the Parker home that very week, the family's frantic hospitality is stretched to its breaking point.

0663 Finish What You... When Olivia takes up guitar lessons, a preschool play, and a birthday promise all at once, she discovers that good intentions alone can't stretch her time far enough.

1 of 3 0664 The Jubilee Singers When Olivia dismisses school as pointless, a portrait of Frederick Douglass introduces her to the students of a struggling university whose only hope may be the songs they carry.

2 of 3 0665 The Jubilee Singers A Fisk choir and their determined director set out on a perilous tour to sing their school out of debt, facing hostility and hardship at every stop.

3 of 3 0666 The Jubilee Singers With Fisk University on the brink of collapse, a weary group of student singers must decide whether to keep performing on a grueling tour that has cost them their health, their dignity, and nearly all hope.

1 of 2 0667 The Mystery of the Clock Tower When City Hall's computerized clock mysteriously keeps resetting itself to 11:45, Eugene's investigation uncovers black roses, a warning note, and a twenty-year-old secret someone in Odyssey has kept hidden.

2 of 2 0668 The Mystery of the Clock Tower When a mysterious countdown on Odyssey's clock tower grips the whole town, Whit and Eugene must untangle black roses, a buried family secret, and a trail of clues that all point somewhere a little too neatly.

0669 Wooton's Broken Pencil Show When Connie steps away from her Kids' Radio show to deal with a blaring car alarm, Wooton takes the microphone and improvises his way toward answering whether entertainment really needs a point.

0670 Stage Fright When an eerie voice haunts the theater during rehearsals for their middle school musical, Emily and Matthew must unmask the phantom before fear shuts down the show.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 10 more roles

10 supporting roles

Phoebe Anderson Debra Skelton Frederick Douglass Scott Lawrence Benjamin Holmes Ogie Banks Thomas Rutling Gary Leroi Gray Ella Sheppard Niko Posey George Leonard White Michael Gough Mr. Billings Steve Franken Maggie Porter Actor Unknown Principal Spence Phil Proctor Mr. Wheeler Jack Angel

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Dave Arnold Writer · Executive Producer Paul McCusker Director Jonathan Crowe Sound Designer Nathan Jones Sound Designer Bob Hoose Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

Olivia hides from her homework at Whit's End and complains that she already knows everything she needs. In Whit's interactive gallery, a portrait of Frederick Douglass challenges that claim. When Olivia says she cares about music more than school, Douglass introduces her to Ella Sheppard and the singers who helped save Fisk University.

After the Civil War, newly freed Black men and women finally have the legal opportunity to pursue an education, though many people violently oppose them. Fisk University opens in Nashville to teach students regardless of color. Its buildings are poor, its food is scarce, and its students face threats merely for attending. When a masked rider fires into a classroom, student Benjamin Holmes is grazed by a bullet. His teacher then sees the scars left by an enslaver's whip, reminders of suffering shared by many students.

George White, a Union veteran and Fisk's treasurer, believes education can give the former slaves a future. Yet the school sinks into debt. Families earning very little send what they can, and White gives his own savings to help feed the students, but the money is not enough.

Hearing students sing in their living quarters gives White an idea. A former choirmaster, he forms a choir to lift their spirits. Ella Sheppard, Benjamin Holmes, Thomas Rutling, Phoebe Anderson, and other talented students rehearse cantatas and hymns under his demanding direction.

White then hears the students singing spirituals passed down through their families. The songs were born in fields, churches, and enslaved homes, carrying sorrow, faith, and hope from one generation to the next. Ella explains that a song she learned as a child comforted her after her parents were taken away. White recognizes that these songs hold a powerful history and asks the students to teach them to him.

The school continues struggling. A shopkeeper can no longer extend credit for supplies, and students and teachers have already left because they lack proper food. While cleaning an old slave pen on the campus, Thomas discovers chains and manacles. White remembers Joseph's declaration that what people intended for evil, God used for good. He sells the iron for scrap and buys textbooks with the money.

Principal Spence believes food is a more urgent need and warns that Fisk's supporters may withdraw their funding. Unless the school becomes self-sufficient by the end of the year, it may close. White proposes sending his choir on tour to raise money and draw attention to Fisk.

Spence refuses. The school cannot afford a tour, and he distrusts anything that resembles theatrical entertainment. White argues that songs of praise can serve God's work and that faithful people must act instead of merely waiting for rescue. He becomes certain that the choir is Fisk's best hope, even while the principal orders him to return his attention to ordinary fundraising.