User:Asagarcia/sandbox

Ella Sheppard (1851 - 1914) was an American freed slave, teacher and activist from Nashville, Tennessee.

Early Life
Ella Sheppard was born Tuesday, April 4th, 1851. Sheppard was born into slavery, around the time the Mexican-American war ended, and Millard Fillmore had recently became the 13th president of the United States. Sheppard was born a slave in the city of Nashville Tennessee. Nashville at that time was fighting to maintain slavery in the south, and was home to the Nashville Convention. The convention brought together slave owners from nine southern states that all shared the same interest – to vote to keep slavery in their respective states. Despite Ella’s circumstances of being born a black female, in an era that worked toward the detriment of black females, Ella still became a prominent and successful musician, educator and vocalist.

Ella’s mother was Sarah Hannah Sheppard and her father was Simon Sheppard. When Ella was born, her father bought his freedom from their slave owner and became a free man. Simon Sheppard bought his time from their owner and worked to accumulate a total of eighteen hundred dollars. Originally, Simon made a deal with the slave mistress to take Sarah and Ella along with him to live a life of freedom. When the time came along, the slave mistress refused to release Ella and her mother. Out of spite for her husband’s freedom, Ella’s mother, Sara, threatened to kill both herself and her daughter by jumping into the river. Rather than see her free than dead, the slave mistress sold Ella, who was three at the time, to Simon, for a total of three hundred fifty dollars.

Ella stayed in Nashville, Tennessee with her father and the two began their new lives as free people in the same city they were once enslaved. Ella’s mother, Sarah, remained a slave and was not granted freedom due to her plans of drowning Ella and herself in the river. Sarah was taken to Mississippi without her daughter or husband to carry on her life a slave. Ella’s father eventually found love again with another woman. This woman was a slave living in Nashville, but soon became free when Simon bought her from her masters for thirteen hundred dollars. Out of fear that the three of them would be re-enslaved in Nashville, the family fled to Cincinnati, Ohio. Although Cincinnati did not permit slavery itself, it was a city that sympathized with the southern slave states because much of its commerce and trade was done with, and came from cities located in the south. This move to Cincinnati was good for Ella, her father, and her new stepmother. The three of them no longer had to live their lives in unease, or in constant fear of re-enslavement, enabling them to truly enjoy their newfound freedom.

Education and Early Career
In Cincinnati the family of three would begin to flourish. Although money was tight, bills remained paid, and the family of three even grew to a family of four. Ella’s stepmother gave birth to Ella’s new half sister, Rosa. Shortly after, Ella began to channel her musical talent. Her father, Simon, recognized his daughter’s natural transition into music, and saved up to buy Ella her first piano. Ella was able to teach herself the basics of playing the piano. Realizing his daughter’s true potential with music, Simon funded Ella music lessons from a very high-esteemed, and prominent white music instructor in the city.

Things soon began to get tougher for the Sheppard family when Simon died from Cholera in 1866. Though she and her family were left in distress from the death of Simon, Ella’s music career did not come to a halt. In order to support herself, as well as her stepmother, and half sister, Rosa, Ella played the piano locally and found a source of income through her music. Ella remained taking music lessons from her instructor but he only agreed to the lessons if she came at night and in through the backdoor. The dependence Ella’s family had on her music as a source of income allowed Ella’s talent to truly showcase itself, and allowed Ella to grow as pianist and vocalist.

Two years following the death of her father, Ella at just seventeen years of age, accepted a teaching position in Gallatin, Tennessee. She left her current home in Cincinnati along with her stepmother and younger sister, to live in the city that was only 30 miles north of Nashville - the city that once enslaved her. Ella’s decision to leave home was not made with haste. Ella went to Gallatin to help educate newly freed slaves that were once enslaved in Nashville. Having once been in this position herself, Ella felt a connection to the newly freed slaves in Tennessee, and felt that it was the right decision to go back to help out in anyway she knew how.

Quickly realizing she was not equipped to teach, Ella only kept her teaching position for five months. Over the course of the five months, Ella saved a mere total of six dollars. This is due to the fact that a lot of the newly freed slaves enrolled in school did not have enough money to pay for their tuition. As a result, the school failed to provide enough money to pay their educators. However, with her six dollars and five months working experience, Ella was able to enroll herself in Fisk University.

Fisk University is a small historically black university located in Nashville, Tennessee. At the time of Ella’s enrollment, the university had just been just founded two years prior. While being enrolled as a student at Fisk, Ella also assisted with the university's choir alongside George L. White. White was a New York native, and at the time was the director of their choir and the school’s treasurer. He was a white man dedicated to music and the advancement of African-Americans both socially and intellectually. After a whole year of Ella’s assistance with his choir, George offered her a position teaching music at the university. Ella took the position and made history by becoming Fisk University’s first black instructor. Her new teaching position allowed her to pay her school fees and remain at Fisk for an additional two years.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers
Sheppard’s time teaching music at Fisk came to an end when George L. White asked Ella to accompany him on a fundraising tour to relieve the school of its financial crisis. Nine others from the university were also chosen for this position. Ella agreed to go on the tour as the pianist and trainer and by the age of twenty she had already began touring the nation. The group of nine black student-singers and White left the university for Cincinnati, Ohio on October 6th, 1871, to begin touring. The university now commemorates this day each year on October 6th. The group nine singers became known as “The Fisk Jubilee Singers”. This name has a biblical reference that refers to the year of Jubilee in the Book of Leviticus in the Old Testament of the Bible, “proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants”. The group began touring along the Underground Railroad and later in its career traveled to Europe. The Jubilee singers performed Negro spirituals in front of crowds from all different backgrounds and nationalities. The original group disbanded in 1878.

Marriage
In 1882 Ella Sheppard married Fisk graduate, George Washington Moore, in Nashville, Tennessee. George Washington Moore was a one of the United States most prominent black ministers. In 1883 Ella and George Washington Moore moved to Washington D.C. While in D.C. George taught at Howard University and continued to preach, while Ella became an advocate for the social and political advancement of African Americans. Both Ella and George led a temperance campaign against 13 saloons in their neighborhood, which transformed the neighborhood to one of the most desirable in the city. The couple lived in nation’s capital for 9 years before moving back to Nashville.

Political Activism
1892 the Moore’s built a house directly across from the Fisk University campus and renewed their relationship with the university. Ella began assisting with the university’s various choirs by lending her aid and musical insight. Ella also became a researcher and lecturer at Fisk on African American and women’s issues. Similarly, Ella also gave her time to write and speak for organizations such as, the American Ministry Association and the National Association of Colored Women. In addition to being a lecturer, choir assistant and activist, Ella also paid for the tuition of several Fisk students including her half sister, Rosa.

Death
Ella and George carried out rest of their lives in Nashville. While in Nashville Ella rekindled her relationship with her birth mom, raised her niece, who moved in with George and Ella at the age of four, and raised her youngest son. Ella and George Washington Moore have a un identified number of children but are known to have a son named Clinton Fisk Moore. Just few days before Clinton’s graduation from Fisk and after she delivered a commencement speech at the Trinity school in Athens, Alabama, Ella became sick and passed away on June 9th 1914. Ella Sheppard Moore died at the age of sixty- three and is buried at Nashville’s Old City Cemetery.