We Did It

Writing about the 2021 annual conference as the conference chair feels a little like bragging about your child. But that’s okay. I hope that whenever any of the people we love do good things, we celebrate them. So, let me take a moment and celebrate the Nashville conference.*

By Hon. Barbara D. Holmes 2021 Conference Chair

n Wednesday, everyone gathered with a special welcome to our international sisters. We were treated to a percussion/dance performance by young artists from the Global Education Center. Nashville Vice-Mayor Jim Shulman extended greetings on behalf of the city and delighted us with stories of his grandmother, a 1911 Boston University Law School graduate, who was the first woman appointed to the bench in Massachusetts in 1930 and who would walk the halls of the nursing home where she lived in later years, “sentencing” other residents.

Our day on Thursday began with a march by suffragists reminding us of the generations of women who fought for woman suffrage, accompanied by local Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway with a roof-raising

rendition of I Am Woman! Then, the Temple Praise Choir’s performance had everyone on their feet.

Thursday’s plenary speaker was Cassie Chambers, author of The Hill Women, who shared her experiences growing up in and now advocating for underserved communities in rural Kentucky. Over lunch, we heard from Elaine Weiss, author of The Woman’s Hour, in a conversation with veteran journalist, Demetria Kalodimos, about the woman suffrage movement. We ended the day with a trip to the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument and a reception in the Parthenon, a full-size replica of the original Parthenon. The Song Suffragettes, up-and-coming singer/ songwriters, shared their talents, with the 42-foot statue of Athena as their backdrop.

As the Greek goddess of wisdom and the useful arts, Athena is surely the matriarch of all women judges.

Our Friday plenary session was a lively panel discussion on First Amendment issues in public educational settings, in which all sides of this difficult topic were well-presented, including by a Tennessee teacher who has been personally impacted. The inimitable Dean Erwin

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