"Jubilee Singers at the White House"
Click Image to Enlarge
Photograph of The Fisk University Jubilee Singers, the first African American choir to perform at the White House, circa 1881.
Credit: Fisk University, Franklin Library Special Collections
Jubilee Singers at the White House
By appointment the colored Fisk Jubilee singers, accompanied by Rev. Dr. Rankin, called yesterday to pay their respects to President Arthur, and while there sang several melodies, among them "Safe in the Arms of Jesus," which actually moved the President to tears. "I never saw a man so deeply moved," said Rev. Dr. Rankin, speaking of the incident last night, "and I shall always believe President Arthur to be a truly good man." The President frankly informed his visitors, after thanking them, that he had never before been guilty of so impulsive an exhibition of his feelings.
[Washington Post, 1882]
Related Subjects:
African Americans and the White House
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| White House Picketers, 1933 | Photograph of demonstrators in front of the White House protesting the jailing of the Scottsboro boys in 1933. |
| Thomas Greene Bethune [Wiggins], 1849 -1908 | Photograph of blind piano prodigy Thomas Greene Bethune, the first African American artist to perform at the White House. |
| The White House | From slavery to sit-ins.... |
| Telegram from Booker T. Washington to President Theodore Roosevelt | Telegram from President Theodore Roosevelt to Booker T. Washington after their controversial dinner. |
| Quilt Attributed to Elizabeth Keckly | Quilt said to be made by Elizabeth Keckly from scraps of Mary Todd Lincoln's dresses. |
| President's House Carpenters' Roll from May 1795 | Payment record for carpenters,including five enslaved men, who constructed the President's House. |
| President Lyndon B. Johnson's Daily Diary- Civil Rights Bill Signing | Scans of pages of President Johnson's daily diary from the day of the Civil Rights Bill signing. |
| Police Arrest Civil Rights Demonstrator | Photograph of a Civil Rights protestor being arrested in front of the White House in 1965. |
| Letter from Frederick Douglass on U.S. Marshal Letterhead | Correspondence of Frederick Douglass in his role as U.S. Marshal. |
| Frederick Douglass | Revered African American leader. |
| Elizabeth Keckly (1818-1907) | Elizabeth Keckly was born into slavery in 1818. She went on to purchase her own freedom and establish a successful dressmaking business. |
| Civil Rights Movement | The Civil Rights Movement and the 1964 Civil Rights Bill. |
| Civil Rights Leaders Meet with President Kennedy | Photograph of Civil Rights Leaders meeting with President Kennedy in the Oval Office, 1963. |
| "The Negro Celebration in Washington" | 1866 article and engraving about Emancipation Celebration in Washington, DC and President Johnson's address. |
| "The First President to Entertain a Negro, Booker T. Washington Dined" | Article from African American newspaper reporting on Booker T. Washington's dinner with President Theodore Roosevelt. |
| "Memorandum for the Files, Subject: Meeting of Negro Leaders with the President, June 23, 1958" | Memorandum for President Eisenhower's files detailing meeting of Civil Rights Leaders with the President. |
Artists and Musicians
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Thomas Greene Bethune [Wiggins], 1849 -1908 | Photograph of blind piano prodigy Thomas Greene Bethune, the first African American artist to perform at the White House. |
| The White House | From slavery to sit-ins.... |
| Rodgers House/ Belasco Theater | A command performance by the first African American opera star... |
| Mme. Evanti Wins Acclaim of Capital | Transcription of a 1932 newspaper account of Lillian Evanti's concert at the Belasco Theatre. |
| Lillian Evanti (1890-1967) | Lyric soprano Lillian Evanti was the first African American to perform with a major European opera company, but she also maintained deep ties to her native Washington, D.C. |
| "Homecoming of Madame Lillian Evanti - Lyric Coloratura" | Program from Lillian Evanti's performance at the Belasco Theatre. |
