(MURFREESBORO) Dr. Ayne Cantrell will be at the Linebaugh Public Library, 105 W. Vine Street, for a book signing and local author talk on Saturday, March 21, from 10:00AM until 1:00PM. She will sign copies of her recently released work, Tennessee Women for the Vote: A Suffrage Play, 1920, published by the Women's Equity Foundation in 2019.

In sweltering Nashville in 1920, the divided Tennessee General Assembly debates the amendment that would give women the right to vote. Emotions run high. Suffragist leaders in town for a rally include Sue Shelton White of Jackson and Nashville's own Anne Dallas Dudley. Suffragists distribute yellow roses to supporters; anti-suffragists hand out red roses. Local African American suffragist J. Frankie Pierce is eager to speak. While all participants named in this one-act play are actual historical figures, their coming together at this time and place is imaginary. Author B. Ayne Cantrell includes authentic speeches, but the historical period is condensed for dramatic effect.

The play resounds with voices of women fighting for the vote and highlights the important place of Tennessee women in that battle. Well researched and including biographies of the suffragist speakers, the text stands alone for any reader interested in the historical context of the woman vote. As a performance vehicle or as Readers Theatre for amateur and school groups, Tennessee Women for the Vote celebrates the centennial of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution.

Dr. Cantrell is Professor Emerita at Middle Tennessee State University where she taught Shakespeare's tragedies and women's drama for over thirty years. Tennessee Women for the Vote springs from her work in community and academic theatre, study of women's history and literature, and her lifelong devotion to pursuing women's rights.

Dr. Cantrell will be selling copies of her play for $10 each. Cash and checks are accepted, with checks being made out to the Women's Equity Foundation. All proceeds go to support a scholarship for Tennessee Women College Students.

The Rutherford County Public Library System has five branches:

• Linebaugh Public Library is located at 105 W. Vine St. in Murfreesboro
• MGL Library is located inside Patterson Park Community Center at 521 Mercury Blvd. in Murfreesboro
• The Technology Engagement Center is located at 306 Minerva Drive
• Smyrna Public Library is located at 400 Enon Springs Rd. West in Smyrna
• Eagleville Bicentennial Public Library is located at 317 Hwy 99E in Eagleville

Explore, Imagine, Engage through RCLS. For more information, call 615-893-4131 or visit www.rclstn.org.