NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Nashville Public Library is hosting the "Nashville Voices: Women Heroes" campaign to honor ordinary women doing extraordinary things.
"We're here to celebrate women of all experiences. So it doesn't matter if you've [for example] never held a public office. It doesn't matter if you've never won an award for anything. It doesn't matter if you didn't graduate high school. Every woman has the potential to make an impact in someone's life," explained Ed Brown with the Nashville Public Library.
While some women are celebrated in the community through other organizations, the library is focused on ensuring every woman has the chance to know they are valued through this campaign.
"Whether that's the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or just your mom who helped you with homework every day, even if she was just exhausted, you know, there are women heroes in everyone's life. We just want to share those stories because they don't always get told," Brown said.
The library's main branch in downtown Nashville on Church Street has a Votes For Women display emphasizing the 19th Amendment that celebrated its 102nd anniversary in August.
"This is not just a history class. This is an ideas laboratory to talk about, ‘What are the issues facing women and girls today? What's being done to address them? How truly equal are women in our society and how can we address the issues and challenges that we face today? And most importantly, how can we come together to do it?'" said Brown. "And that's really what this room is about. It's not just a museum to look at the past. It's there to help let history help inform the future."
The room is what inspired the campaign and includes interactive elements that demonstrate the power of voting.
"You see a lot of famous faces in here, you know, historical faces women for so, obviously, like Kamala Harris has a spot here, Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton across the full spectrum. But what we also want everyone to remember is it's not just the women who make history that matter, every woman matters," explained Brown. "So, Nashville Voices is a community-driven campaign to recognize everyday women heroes."
"[The campaign is] an opportunity and platform to say, 'You are appreciated. You are fantastic. Thank you for what you do.' And the second half of it is inspiration," continued Brown. "Reading about these everyday women heroes and whether that's, ‘Oh, I read about this woman and now that's my life path. I want to do something similar.’ Or if it's just the consideration of ‘Wow, that sounds a lot like my mom and I'd never really thought about how hard it must be. I want to thank my mom.’"
He said through the campaign, the library team hopes to honor as many women as possible during the month of October. But ultimately, the campaign is focused on inspiration.
"Anything that inspires people to make a positive change, make a positive realization in their lives and epiphany if you will. That's the outcome. And if we achieve that, even with just one person, we've done our job with this campaign," stated Brown
To nominate a deserving woman, visit the library's website. All nominations are due September 30.
