A new exhibit opening at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will celebrate the history and legacy of a singing group that introduced African American spirituals to the world.
Jubilation! Ambassadors on a Sacred Journey will open in the Freedom Center’s Skirball Gallery on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Monday, Jan. 19) and run until Father’s Day (Sunday, June 21). The exhibit will focus on the legendary Fisk Jubilee Singers, a Grammy Award-winning and world-renowned ensemble that broke down racial barriers across the world in the late 19th century.
George L. White, a treasurer and music professor at the historically Black college Fisk University in Nashville, founded the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1871. He brought together nine students to form the choral ensemble and organized a tour to help raise money for the university. He came up with the name “The Jubilee Singers” during a tour stop in Columbus, Ohio, to help encourage the exhausted students.
The exhibit, Jubilation!, originated at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, where Fisk is also the oldest institution of higher learning.
“Bringing Jubilation! from Nashville to Cincinnati is very special,” Woodrow Keown, Jr., president and COO of the Freedom Center, said in a press release. “There are many parallels we can draw from the first ensemble of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, several of whom were born into slavery and were among the first free Black people to pursue higher education in the U.S. after the Civil War.”
Jubilation! will unfold in four thematic chapters:
- Africa to America: The origins of spirituals rooted in African musical traditions and their creation during enslavement
- Learning and Freedom: The aspirations and challenges Fisk University faculty, staff and students faced
- Rekindling the Spirituals: How later Fisk troupes transformed spirituals for global audiences
- Forward in Faith: The continuing legacy and ongoing impact of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who still perform today
Highlights of the exhibit include an immersive circular space featuring historical recordings and a vibrant light display, as well as ambassador panels, which will share the personal stories of the original group members, and interactive elements that will bring the ensemble’s story to life.
“The exhibit allows for people of all ages, races and backgrounds to come away inspired by the resilience of the Fisk Jubilee Singers and appreciate the impact of music and culture on social change,” said Shawnee Turner, vice president of Education and Interpretation at the Freedom Center.
The 2025-26 Fisk Jubilee Singers will also perform live in the Freedom Center’s Harriet Tubman Theater on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 4 p.m. You can purchase tickets for $25 here. The group will also perform at the 2026 King Legacy Celebration on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Standard tickets for that program are $50 and member tickets are $40.
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, 50 E Freedom Way, The Banks. More info: freedomcenter.org.
