The Jubilee Singers Under Mrs. James A. Myers

From 1927 to 1947, the director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers was enigmatic Nashvillian Mrs. James A. Myers. Born Henrietta Crawley in 1878, she attended Fisk University alongside Roland Hayes, and he remained her trusted comrade. Her other notable confidants and benefactors included Lady Nancy Astor, Mme. Eva Gautier, and American musician Frank LaForge. In 1906, she married Fisk Jubilee Quartet tenor James A. Myers. In 1916, she joined him in the quartet. When he died in 1927, she took over directorship of the group. Touring internationally over the ensuing decade, she became an unyielding apostle of the “Fisk ideal” in spiritual singing. She allowed her preoccupation with preserving and perfecting the tradition to override practical concerns, precipitating fiscal “showdowns” with Fisk’s administrators. Forced to retire from Fisk in 1947, she organized her own independent Famous Jubilee Quartet, which toured internationally until 1959.