The Tennessee Women's Political Caucus was begun in the living rooms of a handful of women with a vision of women becoming more involved in the political process. The purpose of the Caucus at that time is well stated by Marietta Shipley, Retired Judge of the Second Circuit Court of Davidson County, "The reason we wanted the Caucus to go forward was because we wanted to get women actually involved in politics, running campaigns and running for office. We needed to get out of the back room licking stamps and stuffing envelopes and on the front side running campaigns, running for office and running campaigns for women running for office".
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This short film (about 10 minutes) was the brainchild of Yvonne Wood as the Chair of the 25th Anniversary of the Nashville WPC, in 1999. It offers a brief historical overview of the Caucus as told in the words of the women leaders who helped make the Caucus what it is today.
Speakers, in order of appearance in the film, include:
Jayne Ann Woods - Attorney at Law; Co-Founder, with Charles Bone, of Bone and Woods law firm in downtown Nashville; Served as Commissioner of Revenue for the State of Tennessee
Marietta Shipley - President, The Mediation Group of Tennessee; Retired Judge of the Second Circuit Court of Davidson County
Jane Eskind - Former Public Service Commissioner and the first woman to win a statewide election in Tennessee
Dr. Paulette Coleman - Senior Consultant with Strategic Alternatives International, Past Chair of the Metro Nashville Arts Council; served on the Founding Board of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts
Martha Craig Daughtrey - Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Retired)
Yvonne Wood, Owner of Wood Consultants, Event Planner for the annual Economic Summit for Women; Past Chair of the Tennessee Economic Council on Women; and Past President of Athena, Int'l
Drue Smith - Media Queen of Nashville and first female reporter on Capitol Hill
Bob Corker - United States Senator(R) Tennessee and former Commissioner of Finance for Tennessee
Ronnie Steine - Metro Nashville City Councilman
Dr. James Hefner - President of Tennessee State University - 1991 - 2005
Joanne Pulles - President of the HCA Foundation; Former Executive Director of HCA Healthcare
Margaret Behm - Attorney at Law with Dodson, Parker, Behm & Capparella; co-founded Nashville's first all woman law firm with Marietta Shipley in 1980, Shipley & Behm
Janis Sontany - Tennessee State Representative, Chair of the Tennessee Economic Council on Women and former President of the Nashville Women’s Political Caucus
Mary Frances Lyle - Attorney at Law with Corley Henard Lyle Levi & Langford and the first Lobbyist for the Tennessee Women's Political Caucus, serving from 1982 to 2006
Pam Hewlett Inman - Executive Vice President & COO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association; Former Executive Director of the Tennessee Hotel and Lodging Association and Assistant Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Labor
Marianne Bouldin - Founding Director of the Hope Fund for Sarcoma Research; Former Executive Director of CHART (Campaign for a Healthy and Responsible Tennessee) and Founding Member and Previous Executive Director of the Tennessee Breast Cancer Coalition
We are currently working to gather a full and detailed history of the Tennessee Women's Political Caucus. When completed, we hope to donate it to the Tennessee State Archives so the vital and important work of the TWPC, the founding women and those who continue the work isn't lost. If you would like to help work on this project or make a donation towards the work of this project, please let us know. Click here to learn more about how you can get involved.
Thank you for your interest in the Tennessee Women's Political Caucus.
