Harris Music Building

This beautiful, Italianate-style home was built in 1876 for Richard Harris, owner of Harris Furniture Company in Nashville. In the late 1880s, Harris became the first African-American on Fisk's Board of Trustees. W.G. Waterman, a Fisk professor, bought the house from Harris and eventually donated it to the university (1909). In 1927, the university named it the Music Annex, and in 1991, they rededicated it as the Harris Music Building.

A couple of facts about Fisk:
* Over 800 students attend Fisk University.
* Fisk has a graduation rate of 77.7%.
* Over 70% of Fisk's graduates go on to graduate and/or professional schools.
* According to the National Science Foundation, more Fisk graduates obtain PhDs in natural sciences than African-American graduates from any other college or university nationwide.

***HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!***

Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery

When Fisk opened its doors in 1866, its first priority was educating newly freed slaves who had been denied even the most elementary of educations. Its first students ranged in age from seven to 70 years. The building shown above, completed in 1889, was the first gymnasium built on the campus of a predominantly black school in the United States.

As Fisk grew, the arts became an integral part of the school's curriculum. African art and artifacts have always had a place in the school's collection. In 1871, Queen Victoria donated a painting of the Jubilee Singers to the school - its first major piece of art. Over the years, Fisk added an art department and added to the university's art collection.

Fisk sociology professor, Carl S. Johnson, commissioned the Fisk Murals for the school's library in 1930. When Johnson became Fisk's first black president in 1947, he and his friend, noted photographer, art critic and collector, Carl Van Vechten were instrumental in the school's receiving works of art from the collection of the late Alfred Stieglitz. Georgia O'Keefe, Stieglitz's wife, donated 101 pieces, including photographs, drawings, paintings and sculptures, from the late photographer's collection. In 1949, the gymnasium's was renovated and rededicated as the Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery in his honor.

In 1984, the building reopened after another extensive renovation. Its collection today includes the work of several well-known and upcoming artists. Included are works of Aaron Douglas, Picasso, Renior and others, as well as archived papers of W.E.B . DuBois and Langston Hughes.

Unfortunately, Fisk University is suffering financially. The condition of the art gallery has deteriorated in recent years, and the O'Keefe collection has been in storage since 2005. Even with student tuition and mortgages on the university's buildings, the school is struggling. Fisk has tried to sell two of the paintings from the O'Keefe collection to boost its operating revenue. The O'Keefe Museum has blocked these attempts saying they violate O'Keefe's stipulation that the works not be sold.

On February 9, a judge blocked another attempt by the school to sell partial interest in the collection to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas. The agreement would have sent the collection to the museum owned by Wal-Mart heirs for six months annually. The judge, in ruling against the deal, said O'Keefe's stipulations against sale and that the works remain on display in Tennessee.

Fisk Memorial Chapel

Well-known New York architect William Bigelow designed the Fisk Memorial Chapel. Built in 1892, the chapel honors Clinton Fisk, the university's namesake. Home to the Fisk Jubilee Singers, it is still the religious and cultural center of the university. "Arise shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee" is inscribed above the chapel's entrance doors. And, the chapel is home to a Holtcamp Pipe Organ, estimated in value at $2.5 million.

In addition to lectures and presentations, other activities held there include the Spring Arts Festival, convocation, graduation, dance and dramatic presentations. Guests who have spoken from the chapel's stage include Booker T. Washington, Eubie Black, Merle Haggard, Duke Ellington, Jesse Jackson, Robert Altman, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In 1992, Congress appropriated funds for the Chapel's restoration. Since its August, 1992 rededication, Fisk Memorial Chapel has received awards from the Victorian Society of America, the Tennessee Historical Commission, and the American Institute of Architects (Tennessee).

Tomorrow, we'll continue a look at Fisk and discuss its famous art collection.

Side note: Today is Kasey's 13th birthday. Find out more about her here.

Fisk University

Six months after the Civil War ended, Rev. Erathmus Cravath, John Ogden and Rev. Edward Smith founded Fisk School, named for Clinton Fisk, first head of the Tennessee Freedmen's Bureau. Fisk provided former Union Army barracks for use, and in January, 1866, the first students began attending classes. Fisk has always been affiliated with the United Church of Christ (originally known as American Missionary Association). In 1872, the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools gave Fisk its Class A Rating, the first for an African-American School. Current president of the university is Hazel O'Leary, former Secretary of Energy during the Clinton Administration.

Jubilee Hall (above) was not only the first permanent structure built on the campus but also the South's first structure built for the education of black students. This Victorian-Gothic structure is named for the world-famous Jubilee Singers, a group of students who traveled the world bringing the world a new musical genre - the spiritual. They set out in 1871 and raised enough funds to build the hall and save the fledging university. The current Jubilee Singers still perform regularly, and with upcoming performances scheduled for Knoxville, Roanoke, Chattanooga, and Nashville.

There's a lot more history to Fisk, and tomorrow we'll look at another of its historic buildings.