FISK UNIVERSITY

private institution of higher learning in Nashville, Tenn., U.S. One of the most notable historically black colleges, it is affiliated with the United Church of Christ. It offers undergraduate degree programs in business administration; humanities and fine arts, including religion and philosophy; natural science and mathematics, including computer science; and social sciences, including psychology and teacher education. Masters degree programs in biology, chemistry, physics, general or clinical psychology, sociology, and social gerontology are also available. The Center for Photonic Materials and Devices, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Molecular Spectroscopy Research Laboratory are research units of the university. Enrollment is more than 800 students. Founded in 1866, Fisk School was named for General Clinton Fisk, of the Tennesee Freedmen's Bureau, who gave the school its original facilities in a former Union army barracks. It became a university the next year. In severe debt by 1871, the school emptied its treasury to finance a fund-raising concert tour by a student group, the Fisk Jubilee Singers. As well as successfully raising funds, the Singers' concerts in the United States and Europe helped establish Negro spirituals as an art form. Much of the important modern art collection of photographer Alfred Stieglitz was donated, by his wife, Georgia O'Keeffe, to Fisk University, including paintings by O'Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, and Paul Czanne. Among the collections at the university library are the papers of John Mercer Langston, Marcus Garvey, W.C. Handy, and alumnus W.E.B. Du Bois.