Jubilee

Nashville, 1854

Sarah Sheppard sings her baby to sleep with her special lullaby, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". Sarah and her three-year-old daughter Ella are slaves on a Southern plantation. When the evil plantation mistress trains Ella to spy on her own mother, Sarah considers drowning herself and her child rather than have Ella raised a slave. But a wise slave woman stops Sarah and foretells that Ella is destined for great things.

Sarah’s husband, Simon (a freed slave), returns to the plantation having earned enough money to buy Sarah and Ella out of slavery, but the plantation owner reneges on his promise to give Sarah her freedom because his wife, the evil plantation mistress, worries that she’ll, "never find another cook as good as Sarah." Sarah confronts the plantation mistress and promises to serve her faithfully if she sells Ella to Simon. The mistress agrees. Simon rides off with his baby girl screaming for her mama as Sarah is left behind.

1867

Ella has been raised well by Simon, who arranges for Ella to have voice and piano lessons from a white teacher. Ella is a prodigy with immense talent but must sneak into the teacher's house at night. Simon even buys Ella an old piano. But now Simon is ill, and tells Ella that her grandfather was the plantation owner's father, so Simon is half white, and Ella's grandfather was white.

When Simon dies, Ella returns from his funeral to find some men repossessing her piano. Her music teacher suggests that Ella go to Fisk School to study music with George White. White is impressed with Ella’s musicianship and asks her to be the accompanist for Fisk’s choir. Ella is ecstatic and works day and night to earn her tuition.

But Fisk is out of money and will soon have to close. Ella and George come up with the idea for a concert tour of the North to raise funds. After overcoming much resistance, a raggedy band of ten students, the oldest 25 and the youngest 14, set out with George and Mary Wells as their chaperones. George leaves behind his long suffering wife Laura who’s eight months pregnant with their second son. The tour does not go well. The singers experience all manner of prejudice and hardship, being refused lodging and experiencing threatening situations. They sing in churches but fail to make enough money from their performances to cover their costs.

George believes the only way to make the tour a success is for the singers to perform the hauntingly powerful slave spirituals he has heard them sing privately. But the students decline to sing the intimate songs of slavery to white audiences. Finally, faced with the prospect of going home penniless, Ella convinces the other singers to try singing the slave songs in concert. The response is overwhelming. Audiences are so moved by the power and grace of the singers and their songs born of bondage that they open their hearts and wallets. They decide on a name for themselves – the Jubilee Singers, in memory of the Jewish year of Jubilee, when all the slaves are freed – and take New York City by storm. They’re even asked to perform for President Grant at the White House.

Yet the singers still experience discrimination and prejudice. They’ve sung for the President, but can’t sit in the train station waiting room. They finally return to Nashville as conquering heroes. But George has even greater plans for the singers. He wants to raise enough money to build a permanent building for Fisk. The only way to do that is to attempt a tour of England and Europe. But even with all their fame, no steamship line will have them.

Finally they secure passage to England, where both triumph and heartbreak await. This time George takes along his wife Laura and their now three sons. And while the singers are a sensation, Laura falls gravely ill with typhoid fever. Even as George mourns the passing of his beloved wife, the singers achieve their greatest success, performing for an enchanted Queen Victoria.

The singers have raised $150,000, enough to build Jubilee Hall, the first permanent building dedicated to the education of African American students. But while Ella has achieved fame and success, she is still lost without her mother. She leaves in search of Sarah, whom she's not seen since she was three. Finally she finds her, working as a servant, hanging out the laundry, softly singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". As we see Sarah sing, Ella's voice joins in. Before Sarah even turns around, she knows her daughter has come at last.