The Story Of The Jubilee Singers

The inspiring story of the Jubilee singers follows a group of singers--all former slaves--on a grueling journey from Nashville to New York City, where they would introduce thousands of whites to Negro spirituals. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

Based on the life of Ella Sheppard Moore, this glowing picture book tells the story of a determined and resilient singing group with a lasting legacy. A loving narrator shares the story of her great-grandmother Ella with her niece. Ella, the daughter of a slave, and the Jubilee Singers traveled all over the world singing the old sorrow songs, the songs of slavery. Their hard work raised funds to keep their college open and pave the way for thousands of students. This luminous, lyrical story is a poignant reminder that the old spirituals, or jubilee songs, stood for hope and freedom.

The remarkable story of the Fisk University chorus and their popular performances of Negro folksongs and spirituals, this volume is supplemented by 139 great songs, complete with text, and fully notated both in open score and in a two-stave keyboard reduction. Songs include such all-time favorites as Down By the River.

Eleven black students form a singing group and tour the world in an attempt to save their college from financial ruin. Includes a history of the Jubilee Singers, including photographs, song sheets, concert posters, and programs.

Presents the story of the Jubilee Singers, a group of African Americans who toured singing slave spirituals to raise money for their struggling school.

Changing minds one song at a time. The 1800s were a dangerous time to be a black girl in the United States, especially if you were born a slave. Ella Sheppard was such a girl, but her family bought their freedom and moved to Ohio where slavery was illegal; they even scraped enough money together to send Ella to school and buy her a piano. In 1871, when her school ran out of money and was on the brink of closure, Ella became a founding member of a traveling choir, the Jubilee Singers, to help raise funds for the Fisk Free Colored School, later known as Fisk University. The Jubilee Singers traveled from Cincinnati to New York, following the Underground Railroad. With every performance they endangered their lives and those of the people helping them, but they also broke down barriers between blacks and whites, lifted spirits, and even helped influence modern American music: the Jubilees were the first to introduce spirituals outside their black communities, thrilling white audiences who were used to more sedate European songs. Framed within Ella's inspiring story, Give Me Wings! is narrative nonfiction at its finest, taking readers through one of history's most tumultuous and dramatic times, touching on the Civil War, Emancipation, and the Reconstruction Era. Click here to listen to the Publishers Weekly KidsCast: A Conversation with Kathy Lowinger.

"Tell Them We Are Singing for Jesus" explores the Christian missionary ideals and convictions that spawned the Fisk Jubilee Singers during the 1870s and guided the ensemble throughout its impressive US and European travels. This historic choral ensemble was sponsored by the American Missionary Association (AMA), the parent organization of Fisk University.