Notable Alumni of Fisk University

Ida B. Wells 1862–1931

Journalist, civil rights leader and NAACP co-founder

Also attended: Rust College, Shaw University, Le Moyne-Owen College

Spouse: Ferdinand Lee Barnett (Northwestern University)

John Lewis 1940–2020

Civil rights leader and US congressman from Georgia

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1969

Also attended: American Baptist College

Alcee Hastings 1936–2021

Florida congressman and federal judge

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1958

Also attended: Howard University, Florida A&M University

Marion Barry 1936–2014

Mayor of the District of Columbia

Also attended: Le Moyne-Owen College

Hazel R. O'Leary 1937–

7th United States Secretary of Energy

Spouse: Max Robinson (Oberlin College, Virginia Union University)

Frederica Wilson 1942–

US Representative from Florida

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1963

Also attended: University of Miami

Constance Baker Motley 1921–2005

Federal judge and civil rights strategist

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, New York University

Diane Nash 1938–

Civil rights activist and strategist

Also attended: Howard University

Spouse: James Bevel (American Baptist College)

Charles Diggs 1922–1998

Former U.S. representative from Michigan

Also attended: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Victor O. Frazer 1943–

U.S. Virgin Islands delegate to the House, 1995–1997

Also attended: Howard University

William Levi Dawson 1886–1970

Chicago congressman, first Black committee chair

Attended until 1909

Also attended: Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, SUNY at Albany

Malia Cohen 1977–

33rd Controller of California

James W. Ford 1893–1957

Communist Party USA vice-presidential candidate

Arikana Chihombori-Quao 1950–

Physician, former African Union representative to the US

Also attended: Meharry Medical College

Mathew Knowles 1952–

Music executive, manager of Destiny's Child

Bilikiss Adebiyi 1983–

Nigerian entrepreneur, founder of Wecyclers

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Vanderbilt University

W. E. B. Du Bois 1868–1963

Sociologist, historian and civil rights activist

Also attended: Harvard University

Spouse: Shirley Graham Du Bois (Yale University, Howard University)

Vivienne Malone-Mayes 1932–1995

Mathematician and professor

Attended until 1954

Also attended: The University of Texas at Austin

Eliza Ann Grier 1864–1902

First African American woman licensed to practice medicine in Georgia

Etta Zuber Falconer 1933–2002

Mathematician and educator at Spelman College

Bachelor of Science

Also attended: Emory University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Gloria Conyers Hewitt 1935–

Mathematician, fourth African-American woman math PhD

Bachelor of Science · Mathematics · Class of 1956

Also attended: University of Washington-Seattle Campus

John Hope Franklin 1915–2009

Historian, author of From Slavery to Freedom

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1935

Also attended: Dillard University, Harvard University, Duke University

Joan Murrell Owens 1933–2011

Marine biologist specializing in deep-sea corals

Attended until 1954

Also attended: George Washington University, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Carolyn Parker 1917–1966

Research physicist and educator

Bachelor of Arts

Also attended: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ohio State University-Main Campus

Johnnetta B. Cole 1936–

Anthropologist; first Black female president of Spelman College

Attended until 1953

Also attended: Northwestern University, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Oberlin College

Margaret Murray Washington 1865–1925

Educator and principal at Tuskegee Institute

Spouse: Booker T. Washington (Hampton University)

David Levering Lewis 1936–

Historian, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for biography

Attended until 1956

Also attended: University of Chicago, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Columbia University in the City of New York

Elmer Samuel Imes 1883–1941

Physicist and infrared spectroscopy pioneer

Also attended: Albany State University, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Spouse: Nella Larsen (Columbia University in the City of New York, Fisk University)

Mary Frances Berry 1938–

Historian, lawyer and University of Pennsylvania professor

Also attended: Howard University, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Otis Boykin 1920–1982

Inventor and engineer of electrical resistors

Also attended: Illinois Institute of Technology

Nella Larsen 1891–1964

Novelist, author of Quicksand and Passing

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Spouse: Elmer Samuel Imes (Albany State University, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)

Nikki Giovanni 1943–2024

Poet, writer, activist and educator

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1967

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, University of Pennsylvania

George Padmore 1903–1959

Pan-Africanist, journalist and author

Also attended: Howard University, New York University

James Weldon Johnson 1871–1938

Writer, diplomat and early civil rights activist

Also attended: Clark Atlanta University, Columbia University in the City of New York

Sibling: J. Rosamond Johnson (The New England Conservatory of Music)

Lil Hardin Armstrong 1898–1971

Jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader

Tom Wilson 1931–1978

American record producer

Also attended: Harvard University

Kym Whitley 1961–

Actress, comedian and podcaster

Fatima Massaquoi 1904–1978

Liberian writer and educator

Also attended: Lane College

Jimmie Lunceford 1902–1947

Jazz saxophonist and swing-era bandleader

Judith Jamison 1943–2024

Dancer and choreographer, Alvin Ailey muse

Also attended: University of the Arts

Mandisa 1976–2024

Gospel singer and American Idol contestant

Also attended: American River College

Roland Hayes 1887–1977

Lyric tenor and composer

Helen Martin 1909–2000

Stage and television actress

Willie Smith 1910–1967

Swing-era jazz alto saxophonist

Leonard Jackson 1928–2013

Stage, film and television actor

Ethel Ayler 1930–2018

Character actress

Jennie Jackson 1852–1910

Singer and voice teacher

Terry Adkins 1953–2014

Visual artist and University of Pennsylvania professor

Also attended: Illinois State University, University of Kentucky

William Demby 1922–2013

African-American novelist

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1947

Mignon Holland Anderson 1945–

Writer and professor

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Frank Yerby 1916–1991

Writer, author of The Foxes of Harrow

Also attended: Paine College, University of Chicago

Ann Allen Shockley 1927–

Author and journalist writing on black lesbian themes

Bachelor of Arts

Also attended: Case Western Reserve University

William Pickens 1881–1954

Orator, educator, journalist and essayist

Also attended: Selma University, Yale University

Undine Smith Moore 1904–1989

Composer and professor of music

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, The Juilliard School, Teachers College at Columbia University

Melvin B. Tolson 1898–1966

Poet, educator and columnist

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, Lincoln University

Sylvia del Villard 1927–1990

Puerto Rican actress, dancer and choreographer

Also attended: CUNY--City College

John Wesley Work, Jr. 1871–1925

Musicologist, choral director and songwriter

Also attended: Harvard University

Child: John Wesley Work III (Yale University, Columbia University in the City of New York)

Roberta Dodd Crawford 1897–1954

African-American lyric soprano and voice instructor

Also attended: Roosevelt University

James Gilkes 1952–

Guyanese sprinter who competed in two Olympics

Also attended: University of Southern California

Minnie M. Cox 1869–1933

First black postmaster in Mississippi