Minnie Tate (1857 – April 29, 1899) was the youngest original member of the

Fisk Jubilee Singers The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American a cappella ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. Their early ...

, based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Early life

Tate was born in

, the daughter of Andrew L. Tate and Adelle A. Livingston Tate. Her grandmother, Dicey Tanner, and mother, Adelle, were freed from enslavement in Mississippi, and migrated north. Tate's mother was a teacher. Tate enrolled at

Fisk University Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...

Career

Tate and Eliza Walker were the youngest members of the Fisk Jubilee Singers when it first formed in 1871; both were fourteen years old that year. Tate's "sweet, clear voice" was showcased in the song "Flee as a Bird" in their performances. The Fisk Jubilee Singers performed African-American spirituals. They also sang songs by white composer

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Folk music, folk music during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He wr ...

. Their performances raised money for Fisk, and eventually paid for Jubilee Hall on the Nashville campus."Singers Rescued School with Voices"
''The Daily Oklahoman'' (December 15, 1995): 171. via

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She was the youngest of the group when they toured Great Britain, Holland, and Germany, singing for

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Henry Ward Beecher Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 – March 8, 1887) was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the Abolitionism, abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God's love, and his 1875 adultery ...

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, and others."The Beginning of Jubilee Singing"
''The Lyceum Magazine'' (April 1920): 18-19. The physical strain of that tour made Minnie Tate give up professional singing upon her return to the United States. In 1880, she and fellow Jubilee Singer Georgia Gordon sang a duet at an event marking the ninth anniversary of the group's formation.

Personal life

Tate married a fellow singer, R. A. Hall; they had a son, Roger. She was widowed in 1886. She died in 1899, in her early forties, in Nashville. In 1978, Tate and the other original members of the Fisk Jubilee Singers were granted posthumous honorary Doctor of Music degrees from Fisk University. It is traditional for current Fisk Jubilee Singers to sing and place a wreath of

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leaves at the Nashville grave of Minnie Tate every year.Tyronne Drummond
"Jubilee Singers Mark 119"
''The Tennessean'' (October 10, 1990): 55. via

References

External links

*
A stereograph portrait of Minnie Tate
from the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library Digital Collections.
An illustration of Minnie Tate
from Gustavus D. Pike, ''Jubilee Singers and their Campaign for Twenty Thousand Dollars'' (1873). {{DEFAULTSORT:Tate, Minnie 1857 births 1899 deaths American women singers Fisk University alumni Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee Singers from Tennessee 19th-century American women musicians