Thomas Rutling was born in Wilson County, Tennessee in 1854. His father and brother were sold away from him before he was two years old. He stated on the plantation until 1865, when he moved to Nashville and soon after went to Fisk.
Isaac Dickerson, was born a slave on July 15, 1850 in Wytheville, Virginia. After his mother died, he became a houseboy at the age of five. Before entering Fisk, he worked as a hotel waiter and a school teacher.
Julius Lester (1939- ). Author. Class of 1960. Gained success as a children's author in 1969 with the publication of To Be a Slave, a Newbery Honor Book, and Black Folktales. Subsequent works continued to show his interest in African-American...
John W. Work III (1901-1967). Educator, composer. Class of 1923. Served the University for forty years as director of the Jubilee Singers, professor of music and conductor of the Men's Glee Club. His father and uncle wrote the Fisk University Alma...
John H. Franklin (1915- ). Historian, educator, author. Class of 1935. Works include From Slavery to Freedom (1947), Racial Equality in America (1976) and Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin (2005). Awarded the...
