We’re collaborating with the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) on a special, behind-the-scenes project we think you’ll love.
Last month, SUFFS — the acclaimed, Tony Award-winning musical about the brilliant, passionate, and funny American women who fought tirelessly for the right to vote — took Nashville by storm.
Now, we’re taking Library readers and TPAC fans alike deeper, with a four-part series that explores elements from the show that are also found in NPL’s Votes for Women Room.
This week, we pay tribute to a Nashville hero: the late Thelma Harper.
Thelma Harper is a Nashville Hero
Harper might not be featured in the Broadway production of SUFFS — but her story and legacy are show-stopping.
She began her public service career as grand jury foreman for Davidson County's 5th Circuit Court and then represented the 2nd District on Nashville’s Metropolitan Council.
Many remember Harper's eight-year Council tenure for her successful fight to close the Bordeaux Landfill — including a number of protests and blockades of dump trucks, during which she was arrested along with her fellow community activists.
Harper was the longest-serving woman and the first Black woman in Tennessee Senate history and appeared onstage at the 2000 Democratic National Convention to support a fellow Tennessean, Vice President Al Gore, in his bid for the presidency.
Her pioneering work for civil rights — for women, Black Americans, and the city of Nashville — kept the city, the Volunteer State, and an entire nation moving forward.
Read more about the amazing life and legacy of Thelma Harper, and visit the Votes for Women Room at the Main Library in downtown Nashville to learn more about the history of the 19th Amendment.
Check out the rest of the series
Part 1: The Formidable Ida B. Wells
