and last updated 2021-04-22 17:49:50-04
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) â Former State Sen. Thelma Harper, the first African American woman to serve in the State Senate, has passed away. She was 80 years old.
Senate Democrats confirmed her death to NewsChannel 5 on Thursday.
Harper entered the Senate in 1991, winning Nashville s 19th Senate District in the 1990 election. She also became the first woman to preside over the Senate and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2000.
Erik Schelzig/AP
State Sen. Thelma Harper of Nashville, Tenn., speaks at a press conference by Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday, June 20, 2012, urging Republican Gov. Bill Haslam to call a special session to use surplus revenues to halt tuition hikes in at public universities and colleges. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)
Former Sen. Thelma Harper, Tennessee s longest-serving female state senator and the first Black woman to be elected to the chamber, died Thursday.
Harper, a Democrat from Nashville, was 80 years old. Her death was confirmed by members of both the Tennessee Senate and House Democratic caucuses who had been in touch with Harper s daughter, Linda, though the circumstances of her death are unclear. She passed peacefully and unexpectedly this morning holding my hand, Linda Harper wrote in a post on her mother s political Facebook page.
Elected in 1991, Harper made history serving for 30 years as a state senator. But she was also a prominent Nashvillian in her roles as a mentor and mother figure in the community, easily recognizable by her large signature hats.
April 22, 2021 GMT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Former Tennessee Sen. Thelma Harper, who became the first African-American woman elected to the state Senate, died Thursday. She was 80.
The longtime Nashville lawmaker’s daughter, Linda Harper, said in a statement that her mother died “peacefully and unexpectedly” Thursday while holding her hand.
Harper, who became a senator in 1989 and was first elected to her seat in 1991, became the longest-serving female senator in Tennessee before she decided not to seek reelection in 2018.
“We are grateful for her life’s work and I promised her that we will continue the tradition of her beloved ‘Kids Are Special Too’ Annual Easter Egg Hunt,” Linda Harper said. “On behalf of our entire family we are extremely grateful for all your support throughout the years.”
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