John Wesley Work Jr. (August 6, 1871 – September 7, 1925) was a musicologist, the first African-American collector of folk songs and spirituals, and also a choral director, educationalist singer and songwriter.

[3] John Wesley Work Jr. attended Fisk University, where he organized singing groups and studied Latin and history, graduating in 1895.

[3][2] His colleague, instructor and registrar Minnie Lou Crosthwaite, later commented on his deep interest in the "progress and welfare of his students", though he had conflicts with others in the Fisk music department.

[2] As the director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, he was responsible for taking them on tour each year.

However, because of negative feelings toward black folk music at Fisk, he was forced to resign his post there in 1923.