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A History of Fisk University, 1865-1946

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This book gives the complete history of Fisk University, previously known as Fisk School or Fisk Free Colored School. Throughout the Civil War and to the modern era, Richardson explains the incredible efforts of White abolitionists and free African-Americans to keep Fisk School afloat. One interesting story details how "The Jubilee Singers" came to the rescue when the good name of Fisk was at stake. Later on, Fisk became a University and a center of scholarship and culture. Many of the school's alumni became excellent teachers, generating an increasing demand for Fisk School graduates. The influence of Fisk teachers was felt in schools throughout the South. The most well known Fisk graduate was W.E.B. Du Bois, a founder of the NAACP. Du Bois became the first African-American to obtain a PhD. from Harvard University. A History of Fisk takes you to a time when discrimination and White resistance to equality for Blacks was at its peak. Richardson does a good job describing the prejudice and barriers that supporters of Fisk, both White and African-American, had to overcome to promote the notion of quality education for Blacks. In addition to being highly informative, Richardson's book is smooth reading.