NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — She was far ahead of her time when she began gigging around Nashville. Her family's now making sure her story's being shared around the city.
"It's like she knew," said Vonnie Crawford Moore. "It's like she knew this day would happen."
On Friday night, the crowd began arriving to a spot on Jefferson Street.
What was about to happen was a long time coming for Vonnie and Andrenee Majors-Douglass.
"We feel amazing," said Andrenee. "We're glad that at this point of our lives, we can give her her flowers now."
A few years ago, Vonnie and Andrenee inherited close to everything belonging to an aunt they never got to know in life; transgender soul singer Jackie Shane.
"Jackie and Little Richard!" Andrenee said, pulling a picture from a book. "These are never been seen pictures. We have not released these pictures."
In the 1950s, Jackie was part of the music scene on Jefferson Street. It was a move to Canada in the early 60s that got her on the Canadian charts with a song called Any Other Way.
"Here, you were worried about not only being attacked because you were Black, but she was trans," Andrenee said. "In Canada, she could perform and sell out places cause she was safe."
On a return trip to Nashville in 1965, Jackie arrived to an annex of the L and C Tower, the then-location of Channel 5. She taped an appearance on Night Train. Jackie's writings show what she intended from her performances.
"The love of self, the acceptance of self and being your authentic self," Vonnie said.
Jackie disappeared from music and eventually returned to Nashville permanently. She died in 2019. That wasn't the end of her story.
"One thing that changes today is that more Nashvillians will know her voice, will know her name, will know her importance to Nashville," said Mayor Freddie O'Connell speaking to a crowd.
A fundraising campaign by the Nashville Queer History group has helped bring a historic marker for Jackie Shane to Jefferson Street.
"Jackie Shane has paved a trail so easy for people like me to walk down," said Council Member at-Large Olivia Hill.
"Here's a proclamation recognizing September 20, 2024 as Jackie Shane Day in the Nashville and Davidson County area," read Council Member Brandon Taylor.
"We just want to say thank you," Andrenee told the crowd just before the historic marker was unveiled.
"There are no words that I can say for this," she continued. "We are just honored and truly grateful. It's a sad story and a happy story. We hate that we didn't have years with our aunt, but being able to tell that story and meet so many people she dealt with in her life is really a great feeling."
Jackie's story is also being told in the new documentary Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story.
I grew up in a small town with a small-town newspaper. Those reporters know the town perhaps better than anyone – the town officials, the high school superstars, the troublemakers, the difference makers. Forrest Sanders brings us a beautiful story about life and death and the enduring legacy of a small-town reporter and his written words.
-Carrie Sharp
