The U.S. Post Office on Rosa Parks Boulevard was renamed to honor the late Sen. Thelma Harper, D-Nashville. Harper was the first African American woman to serve in the Tennessee Senate as well as the longest-serving female senator.
It was a packed house with standing room only at the community center. Over a hundred members from the community, many notable politicians and Harper’s daughter, Linda, were in attendance.
Many women who attended the event wore hats, which was Harper’s signature fashion choice. Linda Harper wore one of her mother’s hats. She says she felt joy seeing her mother so highly respected.
“I am truly in awe and amazed because I feel this is such a tribute to all the hard work,” Linda Harper said. “Because I saw the things that happened behind the scenes, where she worked all night and all day to make a difference and try to help those that needed her the most.”
Harper’s several accomplishments over her nearly three decades as a lawmaker include helping fight off the Bordeaux landfill, bringing the Tennessee Titans to Nashville, and developing the Music City Center as well as the National Museum of African American Music.
A fact that makes the post office designation even more fitting is that Thelma Harper helped rename the portion of U.S. Highway 41 to Rosa Parks Boulevard — where the post office is located.
Harper died in 2021.
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