Pioneering Soul Singer Jackie Shane Receives Nashville Historical Marker

NASHVILLE, TN — The Nashville Metropolitan Historical Commission (MHC) has recognized Jackie Shane as a significant part of Nashville and Tennessee history by awarding her an MHC historical marker. The designation honors Jackie Shane as a pioneering soul singer who persevered in the face of racism and transphobia during her musical career of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States and Canada.

A marker dedication ceremony will be held at 6:00 PM on Friday, September 20 at 2601 Jefferson Street. Speakers for the evening will include Mayor Freddie O’Connell, District 21 Council Member Brandon Taylor, Council Member-at-Large Olivia Hill, MHC commissioner Dr. Marisa Richmond, bandleader and singer Jimmy Church, and Jackie Shane’s niece Andrenee Majors Douglas. Performers for the evening will include Crys Matthews, Simba Alik Woodard, and Carlos DeFord Bailey. Nashville Queer History and the Metropolitan Historical Commission welcomes the public to share in and witness this exciting historical event.

“Nashville’s Metropolitan Historical Commission continues to help our city recognize and preserve important stories from our collective LGBTQ past,” said Sarah Calise, founder and director of Nashville Queer History, the community organization that partnered with Jackie Shane’s family to get approval for the historical marker.  “Jackie Shane’s life is an incredible tale of courage and living authentically in spite of oppression, and now her legacy will carry on for all Nashvillians, especially for Black and transgender people,” Calise said. 

Andrenee Majors Douglas, Jackie Shane’s niece and one of the managers of her estate, will speak at the historical marker unveiling ceremony. “We are truly blessed and honored that all these people care so much for our Aunt Jackie,” Majors Douglas said. “It is a pleasure to know that this marker will represent her and her musical talent forever.”

This is the fourth MHC historical marker honoring Nashville’s LGBTQ history. Past marker recipients include Penny Campbell, The Jungle and Juanita’s (Nashville’s First Gay Bars), and Warehouse 28. The MHC markers program began in 1968 and is the department’s longest running and most successful program, with over 280 historical markers across the county. The mission of the Metropolitan Historical Commission is to document history, save and reuse buildings, and make the public more aware of the necessity and advantages of preservation.

Nashville Queer History is a community organization and digital portal whose mission is to research and share the LGBTQ history of Nashville and Middle Tennessee in hopes of inspiring local activism, education, and inclusion. www.nashvillequeerhistory.org