The Jubilee Singers

Beaten down by cold rooms, bad food, and empty concert halls, the Fisk singers are nearly finished - their horses lame, sickness spreading, and just one dollar left between them. When a college official warns that the ragged group might embarrass his school, director George White makes a bold choice: drop the formal program and sing the spirituals born in slavery. The music transforms the room, the money pours in, and White gives the group a new name... the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Reverend Beecher declares that songs like these should not be hidden, and his famous brother Henry invites them to New York, where a Christmas concert opens hearts and wallets alike. Within a year the singers raise over $40,000, saving Fisk University and carrying their music all the way to President Grant and Queen Victoria. Back at Whit's End, Olivia heads home determined to hear those songs for herself.

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

The run See every episode

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.

0671 Fast As I Can When Whit explains the spiritual discipline of fasting, the Whit's End gang each give up something they love for a week - and discover their sacrifices are far harder, and stranger, than expected.

0672 Opposite Day On school Spirit Week's Opposite Day, Olivia's game of doing everything backward lands her in a friendship she never meant to start - while Barrett discovers his five hundred online friends may not add up to much.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 11 more roles

11 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 Dr. Wolcott Fred Tatasciore Clerk Tucker Smallwood Preacher Tucker Smallwood Henry Ward Beecher Pete Reneday Thomas Beecher Steve Eastin

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

Months of poor food, cold rooms, racist abuse, and disappointing concerts weaken the Fisk singers. Even Black churches sometimes treat their mission as mere entertainment. At one church, the pastor delays their concert until after his own service because he fears a collection for Fisk will reduce his offering. White decides that the group will leave rather than allow its work to be dismissed.

With their horses lame and only a dollar remaining, the singers find no hotel willing to house them. Their next sponsor demands degrading minstrel songs and promises a guaranteed payment. The company knows the performance will ridicule the very people and suffering they represent. Yet, needing money for Fisk, they endure the humiliation. Their situation still does not improve, and sickness spreads through the poorly clothed group.

In Oberlin, Ohio, Dr. Wolcott warns that their appearance may embarrass his respectable college. Facing another indifferent audience and perhaps their last concert, White asks the singers to abandon the formal program and share their spirituals. Oberlin has a history of opposing slavery, and he believes its people need to remember God's work of redemption. The singers agree and perform from the heart.

The music transforms the room. Listeners ask the group to visit their churches, Dr. Wolcott apologizes for his prejudice, and a collection brings in $130. He also opens his home to the singers so they can eat and sleep without spending the gift.

Reverend Thomas Beecher tells White that the spirituals have helped him understand the trials of enslaved people more deeply than ever before. These songs carry truth, he says, and that truth should not be hidden. He promises to write his famous brother, Henry Ward Beecher, and invite the group to New York.

White gives the company a new name. The Old Testament's Year of Jubilee brought freedom to slaves and forgiveness of debts; the singers proclaim the sorrow of the past while looking toward a hopeful future. From that day, they are the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

Success at Oberlin does not immediately change their fortunes. Exhaustion, illness, and small audiences continue, and the group considers abandoning the tour. Yet returning home without money would leave Fisk to close. They continue to New York, believing they are fighting not only for a school but for the right of Black students to learn.

Three days before Christmas, Henry Ward Beecher invites them to Plymouth Church, whose congregation includes wealthy and influential families. The Jubilee Singers perform the spirituals that have carried generations through captivity. Beecher urges the congregation to help, and the church gives $250 that night and another $600 after a second concert.

Word spreads. Churches everywhere begin inviting the group, and over the following year the singers raise more than $40,000. Fisk's debts are paid, and enough remains to build a new campus. The Jubilee Singers later perform for Queen Victoria, President Ulysses Grant, national leaders, and famous writers, bringing their music and its testimony before the world.

Back at Whit's End, Olivia understands that these young people have risked their health and safety to preserve an education for others. She leaves the gallery determined to finish her homework and find the music of the Jubilee Singers for herself.