TWSM Board members present who planned the celebration ceremony: Paula Casey, Alma Sanford, Pat Pierce, Linda Knight, Janis Sontany, and Yvonne Wood. (Board members unable to attend were Adrienne Pakis Gillon, Jacque Hilman, and Rosetta Miller Perry.)

Celebrating at the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument in Centennial Park

NASHVILLE, TN — After 10 years of hard work and dedication, the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument Board (TWSM) celebrated the final resting place for the “bigger than life” statues of five historical suffragists.  Designed by famous sculptor Alan LeQuire, Carrie Chapman Catt from New York, Anne Dallas Dudley and Juno Frankie Pierce from Nashville, Sue Shelton White from Chattanooga and Abby Crawford Milton from Jackson are represented on the monument.  They were key suffrage leaders lobbying for Tennessee to become the 36th state to pass the 19th Amendment.  

The monument was erected in its temporary location in 2016 at Centennial Park. On Aug. 18, 2020, thanks to Metro Parks Board and Metro Arts Commission’s diligent efforts to finish the monument plaza, a celebration ceremony was held at the new site on the 100th Anniversary of Tennessee becoming the final state to ratify the 19th Amendment. All major donors and society member plaques are installed around the monument and the beautiful new plaza. Tennessee trailblazers placques also recognized the late Lois DeBerry, Halteman Harwell, and the late Jane Eskind. 

Yvonne Wood, TWSM Board opened the ceremony. Many community dignitaries, including Mayor John Cooper, gave remarks.