Adventures in Odyssey

Guest (Male): Previously on Adventures in Odyssey. To tell you about the Jubilee Singers, I'll have to take you back to a time after the Civil War. At that time, most former slaves weren't educated until a school named Fisk University opened. But some people didn't like the idea of former slaves learning, so even simply attending school could be a dangerous thing.

Guest (Male): Benjamin, everyone get down! Thomas, get away from that window.

Guest (Male): It's just Nick. Nothing serious, thank the Lord.

Guest (Male): And if the danger wasn't bad enough, the school was also in a financial crisis. Principal Spence was worried.

Guest (Male): The bill collectors are constantly at my door.

Guest (Male): Treasurer George White had an idea.

Guest (Male): I believe it would do much for morale if we were to create a choir.

Guest (Male): After one of their practices ended, the choir members began singing songs that White had never heard before.

Guest (Male): It's one of the songs we grew up with. We call them spiritual songs.

Guest (Male): But even while the choir improved, the financial crisis continued.

Guest (Male): I recommend that we take the choir on a tour.

Guest (Male): Impossible. They may be able to generate funds. We simply cannot afford to support a tour, Mr. White. We can't even support ourselves.

Guest (Male): Mr. White became certain that a choir tour was God's instrument of provision to save the school. In fact, he believed that the choir was Fisk University's only hope of survival.

Guest (Female): I can't believe I've never heard this story.

Guest (Male): And to think a bunch of kids did all of this to save a place of learning.

Guest (Female): Yeah. So what happened? Did they succeed?

Guest (Male): Let's not get ahead of the story. Olivia, I'll bet you're the kind that reads the last page of the book first, aren't you?

Guest (Female): No. Well, maybe sometimes.

Guest (Male): I thought so. Weeks passed and Mr. White continued working with the choir, preparing them for the opportunity that he believed would someday come. While the singers were incredibly talented, White knew that they could be even better and would accept nothing less than their best efforts.

Guest (Male): No, no. Stop. Stop. Phoebe, do you believe the words to this song or not?

Guest (Female): Yes, Mr. White.

Guest (Male): Then sing as if you believe it.

Guest (Female): Yes, sir.

Guest (Male): Good. Good. But you need to open your mouths wider when you sing. More air. You should be able to fit your finger between your teeth. And listen, not to what's happening outside but to one another. You must blend in perfect harmony. No voice should be heard above another.

Guest (Male): Except for mine, of course. Voices like mine are scarce as hen's teeth.

Guest (Female): Or as obnoxious as a hen's cackle.

Guest (Male): Well, you're all still a bit rough around the edges. But I'm sure you'll get there in time.

Guest (Male): In time? In time for what?

Guest (Male): For our concert at the Memphis Greenlaw Opera House next weekend.

Guest (Female): What? But I thought Mr. Spence wouldn't approve our concerts.

Guest (Male): Oh, he wouldn't approve funding a tour, Ella. He doesn't have to. We're only traveling to Memphis. I'll pay for that myself.

Guest (Male): But we've only rehearsed sections of the one cantata. We're nowhere near to being ready for a concert.

Guest (Male): The sections we know of that cantata, along with your spiritual songs, will fill our schedule perfectly. I've chosen everything we've rehearsed specifically for such an opportunity. Something's wrong. What is it? Speak up.

Guest (Male): It's only that, well, I'm sorry, Mr. White, but we aren't going to sing our plantation songs for any crowd.

Guest (Male): What? What do you mean? They're beautiful. People will be touched by them.

Guest (Male): That may be, sir. But we ain't going to sing them.

Guest (Male): Why in heaven's name not?

Guest (Female): Those are our songs, Mr. White. They're personal. Our parents sang them and their parents. They're about unhappy times, times that no white audience can understand.

Guest (Male): Which is the best reason to share the songs with others, to help them know what you and your parents endured.

Guest (Female): I'm sorry, sir. We'll sing your cantata, but we won't sing our slave songs.

Guest (Male): Do all of you agree?

Guest (Male): Yes, sir.

Guest (Male): Very well then. We'll sing the cantata. But I think keeping these songs shut up is a mistake. The world should hear them.

Guest (Male): If no one else is going to say it, I will. That concert was a colossal failure.

Guest (Male): I'm sure the people enjoyed it very much.

Guest (Male): Those that came, and not many did. I've seen more people in a bathtub.

Guest (Female): How much money did they give?

Guest (Male): Not enough to cover our expenses, Phoebe. But it's a beginning. Things will get better the more that people hear about us.

Guest (Female): If we can afford more concerts.

Guest (Male): Let me worry about that.

Guest (Male): Well, what have we here, Matthews?

Guest (Male): It looks like a scraggly group of slaves all dressed up like minstrels. Except they don't need to rub no shoe polish on their faces.

Guest (Male): You sure? Maybe they're just good at makeup. Well, let's find out. How about you, boy? You really black?

Guest (Male): Oh, must be. It don't rub off.

Guest (Male): Gentlemen, I'd be grateful if you would move on. There's no reason to cause trouble.

Guest (Male): Well, what if I enjoy trouble? Who's going to be the one to stop me from enjoying a little trouble? You, black boy?

Guest (Male): No, sir. Not even if I did.

Guest (Male): Oh, stop it. Move on before I summon the constable.

Guest (Male): Oh, don't he use nice words, Stevens?

Guest (Male): Seems uppity to me. He must be the Yankee we read about on the fly. The one taking these animals out of their cages.

Guest (Male): You, sir, are a highly offensive fellow. No Christian gentleman would behave in such a manner.

Guest (Male): Well, that's fine because I ain't one of them. Well, let's put these coloreds to good use. If they won't work our fields anymore, they can at least stretch our ropes.

Guest (Male): Waste of a rope. I know. Since they came all this way to sing, let's have them sing for us. How about it? Let's have a song from the colored choir.

Guest (Male): No. Listen to me, Yank. You tell them to sing or I'll slice you like a Christmas ham.

Guest (Male): Mr. White. Put the knife away, mister. We'll sing.

Guest (Male): No, Thomas.

Guest (Male): Listen here, Mr. White. I believe the Lord will be happy for us to sing to these two men.

Guest (Male): But that's more like it.

Guest (Male): I will not cower.

Guest (Male): You've never been a slave. Besides, we're not cowering. We're singing. Come on, in formation. You start, Ella, from your heart.

Guest (Female): I'll do it from my heart, but not for them. I'll do it for Mr. White.

Guest (Male): Then stop your dawdling and sing.

Guest (Male): Well now, that was right nice. Very nice indeed.

Guest (Male): Yeah, not bad for a bunch of savages.

Guest (Male): Mind yourself, Matthews. Show some respect.

Guest (Male): Respect? What's gotten into you? It was a song, not even a good one.

Guest (Male): Then you've got a tin ear. Oh, you're full of drink. Let's get out of here.

Guest (Male): No, you go.

Guest (Male): Suit yourself. Get out of my way. Fool gets a little drink in him. I'm sorry about the ruckus. I shouldn't drink so much. It makes me mean. But I swear, I never heard a song that hit me over the head as hard as that one did. Reminded me of my mama singing to me when I was a boy. Will you sing another? I have money. I'll pay.

Guest (Male): It's not my decision.

Guest (Male): We'll sing another, mister. But we'll do it because we're free to do it.

Guest (Female): Amen.

Guest (Male): "Go Down Moses," everyone.

Guest (Male): Over the next few months, the group sang in nearby cities, sometimes to larger audiences but usually to small ones. They brought in some money but rarely enough to cover their expenses. Then one day, while the choir was practicing. That was very good. I think people will enjoy it very much.

Guest (Male): Mr. White, a word if you please?

Guest (Male): Well, not everyone, perhaps. Excuse me. Yes, Principal Spence, what can I do for you?

Guest (Male): I see you're practicing with the choir.

Guest (Male): Yes, sir. I know you have little regard for what we're trying to accomplish, but it has cost the university nothing.

Guest (Male): That's not my point. I was moved deeply by their singing. You've done a fine job.

Guest (Male): Well, thank you then.

Guest (Male): Well, I've just received a notice from the bank holding our mortgage. They're giving us six months to pay off our loan.

Guest (Male): Six months? That's impossible. I've exhausted every source of income I know of.

Guest (Male): As have I. My wife wonders whether or not I should resign. Perhaps I might be able to accomplish some good elsewhere. But I do feel bound to this place. Many of the students have joined in our prayer meetings and have become Christians. I have great hopes that some may even become missionaries. But short of a miracle, we'll be evicted come next spring.

Guest (Male): Mr. Spence, do you not consider singing to the Lord's glory a missionary effort?

Guest (Male): You know my feelings on that subject, Mr. White. I fear that it smacks more of the theater than evangelism.

Guest (Male): And yet the scriptures are full of songs and psalms. Were they mere theatrics or an expression of praise to God himself that touched the hearts and minds of the people? Well, Mr. Spence, we can give up and wait for disaster to strike. That's easy enough. But I believe we can succeed. God is on our side, so we must succeed. You want a miracle, sir? It is right here in front of you.

Guest (Male): Very well, Mr. White. Take your company of evangelist singers to the north. Acquaint the people there with our school. We have little in the way of funds to offer you, but what we have is yours along with our prayers.

Guest (Male): I shall take both, sir. And God willing, I'll return with much more.

Guest (Male): With the permission of Principal Spence, Mr. White decided that the group would take their tour along the route of the Underground Railroad, performing in homes and churches of the abolitionists from Ohio all the way to New York. He tried to convince Ella and the others to include their spirituals, but they refused. Those songs represented days of shame. This tour was their opportunity to start over. On October 4th, 1871, the day before they left, White met with the singers to invoke God's blessing on their journey.

Guest (Male): Lord, like the Israelites of old leaving Egypt, we begin a journey toward a promise. We have no coats to keep us warm and only forty dollars plus a coin or two. But we have your strength, Lord, and that cheers our way. Give us faith when the day is long and bleak. Give us hope when the clouds hang low and grant us success to sing the money out of the hearts and pockets of the people. For we go forward in your name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Amen.

Guest (Male): The good book says to be not afraid nor dismayed. Amen. The Lord is the one who goes with us. He will not fail us or forsake us.

Guest (Male): That's right.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Benjamin. Do you think we're ready, Mr. White?

Guest (Male): I think we're needed, Thomas. And that is more important than anything.

Guest (Male): Help you?

Guest (Male): Ten tickets to Cincinnati, please.

Guest (Male): Coach seats, I assume? Or baggage?

Guest (Male): Actually, sir, I'd like first class.

Guest (Male): For you?

Guest (Male): For all of us.

Guest (Male): Whatever you say.

Guest (Female): First class? Mr. White, we can't afford that.

Guest (Male): We'll be coming back in first class, might as well leave the same way.

Guest (Male): Here you are. You wouldn't want to donate these tickets to our worthy cause, would you?

Guest (Male): Nope.

Guest (Male): Well, it was worth a try. Let's go.

Guest (Male): Can't say as I blame him for thinking we'd ride in baggage. We are a scraggly bunch. Phoebe and her cloth slippers, you in that shawl, the rest of us in these thin rags with winter in the air. We look like the dog kept us under the house. Still, I'd be happy to ride in that first class. I've never had one of those seats before.

Guest (Male): This is the car. Everyone in.

Guest (Male): Hold on. Tickets.

Guest (Male): Here you are.

Guest (Male): First class, huh? Sorry, but this car's full. You'll have to take the caboose.

Guest (Male): The chicken box? That ain't no first class. We might as well ride in the hay bale.

Guest (Male): We paid for first-class seats. There are plenty available.

Guest (Male): It's full. Those seats are already taken.

Guest (Male): But nobody's in them.

Guest (Male): I tell you they're taken. Now you can ride in the caboose or you can walk. And if you don't board in one minute, you'll be walking.

Guest (Male): This is an outrage.

Guest (Female): It's fine, Mr. White. Let's just get on.

Guest (Male): Yeah, you do that.

Guest (Male): One thing's certain. Old Satan loads his cannon full of fat, ornery people, and that guy's a double load.

Guest (Male): Amen, brother.

Guest (Male): They arrived in Cincinnati late and bunked in a black boardinghouse. Hoping to raise interest in the concert, Mr. White convinced the editor of the Cincinnati Commercial Paper to give them a free ad, promoting the praise meeting they would be holding the next day. After the concert, the same paper gave the singers this review.

Guest (Male): Well, this is a precious humbug. To see all of these people come here and patronize these poor colored students who ought to be nestled home in their beds. As for me, I would have enjoyed a brisk punch to the nose more than watching these minstrel wannabes sing. It was a complete waste of my evening and, at my age, I covet every evening I can get.

Guest (Male): Well, at least the reviews are improving. The others were much less complimentary.

Guest (Female): How much did we get in the collection plate?

Guest (Male): Well, we can eat a meal or get a few rooms tonight, or we can travel to our next stop.

Guest (Male): Is that a question? Because I'm hungry.

Guest (Male): I believe that the Lord sent us on this mission. And where he calls, he always provides. If we don't receive enough in one place, he's sure to provide in the next.

Guest (Female): Where is the next stop?

Guest (Male): Chillicothe.

Guest (Male): Yes, he has. I have attended many concerts in my role as pastor, but ladies and gentlemen, the sweetness of the voices of these men and women have carried me beyond exhilaration. But life brings us interesting contrasts. While we've enjoyed this spectacular musical performance, news of a most calamitous nature has been brought to my attention.

Guest (Male): Our brothers and sisters in Chicago are under siege. A huge fire now sweeps across the city destroying everything in its wake. I understand that over two hundred people are dead, thousands of homes razed to the ground, and more people than can be counted are without homes. Friends, we are duty-bound to help in their recovery. Who here will give to their need?

Guest (Male): Pastor, although the Lord knows we need it, we'd like to give the proceeds from tonight's concert to the victims of the fire.

Guest (Male): That is generous, very generous indeed, Mr. White. On their behalf, I thank you. Who else?

Guest (Male): No money again. No meal again. I'm so hungry my ribs are sticking to my backbone.

Guest (Female): Perhaps this hotel will provide a meal, assuming they have rooms for us.

Guest (Male): It looks empty enough.

Guest (Male): Not as empty as my stomach.

Guest (Male): Wait here. I'll go in and check.

Guest (Male): Yeah, what may I do for you?

Guest (Male): Do you have any rooms available?

Guest (Male): All but one, and that's where I'm bunked. Just yourself then?

Guest (Male): No, I'll require three rooms for myself and my companions outside.

Guest (Male): Companions? That bunch out there yours?

Guest (Male): They are. The men will stay in one room, the ladies in another. I'll require a room for myself.

Guest (Male): You can stay all right, but I have no place for them.

Guest (Male): But you just said all of your rooms are open.

Guest (Male): Not for them, they ain't. You want a room or not?

Guest (Male): We're all together.

Guest (Male): Then you can all leave.

Guest (Male): With pleasure. No rooms.

Guest (Female): None at all?

Guest (Male): No. Perhaps the place next door.

Guest (Male): Such indignities were common during their travels. Most hotels would not accommodate them, and those that did often housed them in basements and back rooms and fed them during off hours so their other guests wouldn't complain. Still, they pressed on faithfully, committing themselves to him who would not fail them. What they didn't know was that the most difficult days were still ahead.

Host (Female): The difficulties of the Jubilee Singers remind me of another group of former slaves who left their home to journey to unknown places. In the Old Testament, God led the Israelites into a new homeland. God had promised it to them, but that didn't make them less fearful about going. So God told his people in Joshua 1:9, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Host (Female): What will happen to the singers on the tour? Be sure to keep listening to find out. You can learn more about today's adventure, The Jubilee Singers, on our website at whitsend.org. You can also write to us at Adventures in Odyssey, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80995. Or in Canada write to Box 9800, Vancouver, BC, V6B 4G3. Adventures in Odyssey's a presentation of Focus on the Family.

Host (Female): The Jubilee Singers was written by Dave Arnold with sound design by Jonathan Crowe and music by John Campbell. Our cast included Michael Gough, Ogie Banks, Nico Posey, and Gary Leroy Gray. And I'm Chris, hoping you'll join us again next time for more Adventures in Odyssey.