Little Theater at Fisk University

The building on Dr. DB Todd Jr. Blvd. opposite the Albion Street intersection is the Little Theater at Fisk University. The one-story, wood-frame building was built in the early 1860s by the Union Army as "The Railroad Hospital," making this the oldest building on campus. The building originally stood on West Church Street in Nashville and was moved here in 1873. It was repurposed as a classroom building for Fisk, opened in January 1866 as Fisk Free School, named after General Clinton B. Fisk of the Freedman's Bureau of Tennessee. The official charter was granted in 1867, creating Fisk University. The building was remodeled into a theater in the 1930s and housed the Fisk University Speech and Drama Department. The Little Theater is one of a number of buildings that make up the Fisk University Historic District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

The Union forces occupying Nashville built what later became the Little Theater in the 1860s as part of two buildings of Army hospital barracks. It came to be known as "Railroad Hospital." They were converted into use for the Fisk School in January 1866, which became Fisk University in 1867. The two buildings were moved to this location along what is now Dr. JB Todd Jr Blvd. The buildings and an adjoining chapel made up the campus buildings until Jubilee Hall was built in 1876 on land that formerly held a Civil War fort, Fort Gillem.

The wings of the building were arranged slightly differently in this spot on campus on an 1897 Sanborn map, where the building was being used as a printing office. The entrance was on the south end of the narrow wing, northwest of the gymnasium building. By 1914, the building was in use as a carpentry shop and was in the same orientation as in 1897. In 1935, the combined building was reconfigured to its present orientation and renovated to become a theater, with seating for 90. The Fisk Stagecrafters, the university's drama group, call the Little Theater their home base. Performances have been held in the Little Theater for visiting notables, including Sidney Portier, Miles Davis, and Cicely Tyson.

The T-shaped building features a projecting front vestibule, facing east toward campus, leading to the central segment of the building, with two, asymmetrical rear wings on the west end. The vestibule, central portion, and rear wings have gable roofs.

The exterior of the Little Theater building was covered in sewn-together used jute and burlap sacks in the spring of 2021 as part of "Leaves of Grass," an art intervention project by Ghanian-born artist Ibrahim Mahama. The sacks are manufactured in Asia and used as part of the cocoa and coffee export trade of Ghana with Europe and the Americas. The installation related to the sociopolitical and economic forces that oppress workers in a capitalistic economy, while also reflecting a universal skin. The material was resown by volunteers and students in Nashville in 2021 with yarn or twine and then draped over the Little Theater for the month of May. A similar process took place in a variety of urban spaces during the exhibition's travels beginning in 2012.

Ciccarone, Erica. Winter, Laura Hutson. An Art Installation With International Relevance Finds its Home in Nashville, May 6th, 2021. Accessed November 3rd, 2022.

Clement, Bob, Congressman. Testimony on National Park Service, Fisk University and Jubilee Hall. U.S. Congressional Hearings before Dept. of Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. April 25th, 1989. 331 - 349.

Cohen, Rodney T. Fisk University. College History. Charleston, SC. Arcadia Publishing, 2001.

https://www.nashvillescene.com/arts_culture/visualart/an-art-installation-with-international-relevance-finds-its-home-in-nashville/article_47efd637-7f32-5d7f-8499-cf2c256536ed.html.

Fisk University Galleries. EADJ Presents Leaves of Grass, 2012-2021. 2021, Previous Exhibitions. January 1st, 2022. Accessed November 3rd, 2022. https://www.fiskuniversitygalleries.org/previous-exhibitions.

Pilsk, Berle. Looney, Percy. NRHP Nomination of Fisk University Historic District. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1977.

Ponder, Henry. Testimony Before the House Subcommittee for Interior and Related Agencies, February 26, 1992. Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1993, ser. U.S. Congress. House of Representatives, vol. 102252 - 255. Published December 1st, 1992.