Tennessee Triumph on Public Square in downtown Clarksville, Tennessee, commemorates the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment and the women who helped secure the right to vote. The monument was unveiled and dedicated on Aug. 15, 2020, as part of Clarksville’s observance of the anniversary and to establish the city as a stop on Tennessee’s Woman Suffrage Heritage Trail, which runs from Chattanooga to Memphis.
The 7-foot bronze statue is 1.25 times life size and depicts a woman casting her first ballot. She faces F&M Bank on Public Square, placing her vote in a ballot box while holding a scroll reading, “Women use your vote.” Rather than honoring a single individual, the monument commemorates the Clarksville women who worked for suffrage and participated in that first election after ratification.
The project was led by the Tennessee Triumph Steering Committee, a group of 20 women community leaders who spent two years raising money and guiding the effort. Ellen Kanervo and Brenda Harper helped organize the committee, which ultimately selected a design by Phoenix- and Nashville-based artist Roy Butler. The statue is Clarksville’s 27th piece of public art.