In 1937 this Victorian style house became the home of John W. Works III. A teacher and composer for 39 years, he served his alma mater by enriching the Fisk musical traditions. Director of the Jubilee Singers, Work III, a serious composer completed more than 100 compositions. He was not only an acclaimed composer and choral conductor, but also a recognized author, educator and ethnomusicologist.
His father, John W. Works II, composer of the Fisk alma mater, The Gold and Blue, was known as the rescuer and preservationist of Negro religious music. Work II's book, Folk Songs of the American Negro, was one of the first extensive studies on the origins and development of religious African-American music by a decendant of an ex-slave who lived during the time many of their songs had their beginnings.