On 9 January 1866 Fisk School opened its doors to its first students. The school was based near Nashville, Tennessee. It was formed as a result of the collaboration between General B. Clinton Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmen’s Bureau, the American Missionary Association and the three actual founders of the school (John Ogden, the Reverend Erastus Milo Cravath and the Reverend Edward P. Smith). They all hoped that the aftermath of the Civil War in the USA would bring new opportunities for African Americans in the South.
The first students were former slaves and their children who hoped to finally get a chance at a decent education and improved employment prospects. In 1867 ‘Fisk School’ became a university and soon it began to establish itself as one of the leading educational institutions for African Americans in the USA. It is still going strong today, 150 years on.
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