Molly Todd Award

In 1995, as part of the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the League of Women Voters of the United States, the League of Women Voters of Nashville established the Molly Todd Award for service to the Voters of Nashville. The award is designed to recognize each year a member of the League who has followed in Molly Todd's footsteps, providing leadership and service to both the League and the voters of Nashville.
Who was Molly Todd? Molly Todd came to Nashville in the 1940s and immediately became an active member of the community. She helped establish the League of Women Voters in Nashville, and then translated League principles into action! She organized support for the change to a metropolitan form of government for Nashville. She was a plaintiff in the Baker v Carr case, a delegate to the 1970 Tennessee Constitutional Convention, and later ran for office. She was a frequent monitor at the state legislature on League issues, especially the income tax. Her presence was always noticed on the hill, and when she spoke, the legislators listened!
--Silvine Hudson, remarks made in introducing the award winner at the 2000 Annual Meeting
Please click here for a listing of all Molly Todd Award Recipients

2006 Molly Todd Award

Mary Frances Lyle was awarded the 2006 Molly Todd award during the Nashville League's Annual Breakfast Meeting
Mary France Lyle has been a League member for many years. As President of the League, she was an articulate advocate on women's issues and was skillful in mentoring and encouraging young League members. She is a member of the law firm of Bruce, Weathers, Corley & Lyle, PLLC, with a practice devoted solely to family law. After teaching the third grade for 10 years, she fulfilled a long held dream and entered Vanderbilt University Law School in 1976. Part of her reason for entering the field of law was to gain tools to use in working for the advancement of women in society. As a law student, she was a volunteer law clerk at Legal Services of Nashville. Following law school, she joined a law firm and in 1982 she became a lobbyist for the Women's Political Caucus.
On Capitol Hill, she and the League have worked together successfully on many issues. Over the years she has gained the support of legislators for shelters for victims of domestic violence; fairer distribution of property in divorce cases; dropout prevention and model child care programs in high schools; and reinstatement of the Tennessee Economic Council on Women. Working with legislators, she has truly followed in Molly Todd's footsteps.
She has worked tirelessly, both personally and professionally, to advance the interests of women. Women in Tennessee enjoy a more friendly business environment and greater legal protection as a result of her efforts. She has served on numerous professional and civic boards, including the Nashville Bar Association Board of Directors, Cumberland Valley Girl Scout Council, League of Women Voters of Nashville, Planned Parenthood and Tennessee Leadership, serving as president of the latter three

2005 Molly Todd Award

Marian Ott was awarded the 2005 Molly Todd Award during the Nashville League's Annual Breakfast Meeting
Marian Ott has been a board member since 1983 has been a board member and officer in the League of Women Voters of Nashville, including as treasurer, and as president, and served on the Board of the state League. She has had major responsibility for the League's Metro Blue Book, a unique and valuable resource to League members and to all voters in the community. She has coordinated or hosted numerous candidate forums, and she moderated a League sponsored forum on Metro's solid waste plan. She was instrumental in bringing the president of the League of Women Voters of the United States to Nashville to speak at Fisk University, a meeting attended by the President of Fisk University as well as a number of Fisk students as well as League members.
As a professional career woman when elected president of the Nashville League, she has enabled the League to work in an effective way with other groups in the community with similar interests. For example, the League has always had an interest in the issue of transportation; in her professional role, and by her service on the Metro Transit Authority Board as Chair, and on the Board of Cumberland Region Tomorrow, she has greatly strengthened the League in its study and efforts in that area. She also currently serves on the Board of Directors of St. Luke's Community Center, the advisory committee of Women United in Giving of the United Way and the Nashville State Community College Foundation. She has also been active in the Women's Political Caucus. She was nominated by the state League and appointed by the Governor to the State Registry of Election Finance, an area of particular interest to the League.

2004 Molly Todd Award

Berdelle Campbell was awarded the 2004 Molly Todd Award during the Nashville League's Annual Dinner Meeting.
Berdelle Campbell began her long association with the League in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she served as President beginning in the early 1960s. In Nashville, she chairs the environment committee and serves as Vice President. She has led Smart Growth study sessions addressing issues such as transportation, land use, zoning and housing; promoted the development of Nashville's Greenways; served as Vice President of Recycle Nashville; and served on the Executive Board of the Cumberland River Compact.
She regularly attends Metro Council Meetings and frequently attends sessions of the Tennessee General Assembly--listening, learning and gently persuading. She was active in the establishment of the Tennessee Economic Council for Women.
Her career has had far reaching impact. Having received a Master of Science degree from the NC School of Public Health, she taught both at the secondary and higher education levels. As an educator for the Tennessee Department of Health, she provided instruction and mentoring services for literally thousands of professionals and students over her 21-year career. As a designee from Meharry Medical College, she traveled to Nigeria to assist in the development of curriculum for a new health science institute and in Kenya she participated in training African women health professionals in maternal health and family planning. She coordinated a teacher training exchange of Russian teachers and health workers coming to Tennessee and Tennesseans participating in a program in Moscow.
When she retired in 1997, Metro Parks and Beautification hosted a breakfast and "tree planting" ceremony in her honor at Morgan Park and Mayor Bredesen declared a Berdelle Campbell Day in Nashville.
Her civic involvement has been varied. She has served on the Board of Directors and Executive Board of the YMCA of Middle Tennessee, on the Board of Directors of National Planned Parenthood, and as a Delegate to the United Nations International Population conference in Amsterdam in 1989.
Berdelle has been a member of the Executive Board of the Historic Germantown Neighborhood Association and a member of the Nashville Neighborhood Alliance Advisory Committee. She and her husband, Ernest, are often referred to as the original "urban pioneers" having been instrumental in rejuvenating the inner-city historic Germantown neighborhood.

2003 Molly Todd Award

Dikkie Schoggen was awarded the 2003 Molly Todd award during the Nashville League's Annual Dinner Meeting.
This year's recipient of the award has followed in the tradition of Molly Todd. Her service to the League has included sharing her home with visitors from Zimbabwe who were part of a League program empowering women to enhance democracy. She provided food and hospitality for meetings of the state League, innumerable meetings of the Nashville League's education committee, and events that included the entire membership.
She has been a Research Associate at the John F. Kennedy Center of Peabody College, with emphasis on issues of behavior and environment of children as related to early childhood development.
After several years out of Nashville, she returned here to "retire." But she quickly found ways to continue contributing to the lives of children. She volunteered one day a week at the Family Resource Center at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital for 12 years, using her research skills to review and locate materials to meet the needs of families and later maintaining the data base for the center. She has been on the Education Committee of the Nashville League, serving as chairperson or co-chair for several years. She and her husband, Phil, have regularly monitored the Metro School Board meetings. She and Jane Norris initiated the idea of having a mock voting booth for the annual back-to-school event started by Mayor Bill Purcell. For this endeavor, she arranged for real voting machines and provided a mock ballot for children and their parents to use for practice.
The author of a musical production about aging, she is part of a group singing about situations we all face as we grow older. The group has performed about once a month since 2002 at a variety of venues.

2002 Molly Todd Award

Jo Ann Bennett was awarded the 2002 Molly Todd Award during the Nashville League's Annual Meeting.
Below remarks are from the presentation of the Molly Todd Award to JoAnn Bennett from Silvine Hudson at the Annual Meeting of The League of Women Voters of Nashville, April 2002
Jo Ann Bennett is a longtime member of the League of Women Voters. She has served as president of the state League and on the local League board. She was a volunteer lobbyist for the League for many years, editing the Lobbying Handbook which has been used by other volunteer organizations.
She has worked tirelessly on a variety of issues, especially tax reform. JoAnn also has served as League liaison with several coalition organizations such as the Tennessee Environmental Council and Common Cause. Her networking ability has strengthened the efforts of the League and the organizations with which the League worked.
It has often been said that the mark of a true leader is the ability to bring along the next generation of leadership, leaving behind strong replacements. JoAnn mentored and advised many over the years. She gave the Nashville League and the state League a promising future by nurturing current leaders, recognizing potential ones, and aiding in their development for the future. Many League members learned about the issues of the day at League Unit meetings held at her home, and she has served as a resource for many.
JoAnn has led League action on a variety of issues, some of which were immediately successful and some of which have required amazing tenacity and perseverance. Along the way, she gained the respect of her allies and adversaries alike. JoAnn's phone calls to legislators get returned! The press conference she called as president of the state League was well-attended in Legislative Plaza. She supervised the League's first paid lobbyist, based on her own extensive experience as a volunteer lobbyist.
But perhaps the most impressive was her leadership in a successful redistricting suit (Kidd v. McCanless) before the Tennessee Supreme Court pertaining to the state Senate, for which she wrote an amicus curiae brief.
JoAnn has served on boards of the Tennessee Environmental Council and the Legal Aid society, and as chairman of the Nashville Chapter of Common Cause. Many in elected office and many more in civic affairs and "causes", have sought her advice and counsel.
Tonight we honor our friend, JoAnn Bennett, for her service to the League of Women Voters and to the citizens of Tennessee. She has made a career of civic involvement, and the citizens of Tennessee are the beneficiaries. She has participated in many groups that have improved the lives of Tennesseans and encouraged government to be responsive to the needs of all the state's citizens. Molly Todd would be proud to see one of her longtime friends and admirers receive this award in her name.

2001 Molly Todd Award

Silvine Hudson received the 2001 Molly Todd Award during the Nashville League's Annual Dinner Meeting.
Silvine Hudson has played an active role in the League of Women Voters since reaching voting age. In Nashville she served as chair of the Education and Metro Government Committees and on the Board of Directors and as President of the LWV Nashville. She also guided the LWV of Tennessee as its President and mentored many rising League leaders.
As a League leader, she was adroit in facilitating discussions and bringing members to consensus on important issues. As a League member, she lobbied government officials at the local, state and national level. In the halls of the state legislature she pushed for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and for a tax system that is more elastic and is fairer for low and moderate income taxpayers, many of whom are women struggling to support their children on low wages.
Silvine raised money for and contributed to several League publications designed to ensure that women voters and the general public know how government works. These publications included Know Your Government Officials, the Metro Blue Book, and Lobbying and the Tennessee General Assembly.
Silvine began her career as a teacher. Her experience lobbying the Tennessee legislature for the League laid the groundwork for her later career as Assistant Director, Community and Government Relations, at Vanderbilt University. League contacts also gave Silvine the idea for developing Retirement Learning at Vanderbilt, a continuing education program for retirees.
In addition to her work with the League, Silvine served as an organizing member of the Nashville Family Shelter. She was also an early member of CABLE and supporter of the Council on Aging, Planned Parenthood, Save Our Cumberland Mountains, Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society, and Tennesseans for Fair Taxation.

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