About Betsy Thorpe

Betsy Thorpe studied folklore and ethnic anthropology at the University of Oregon and is a scholar of early 20th-century Southern culture and history. She is a member of Nashville Historic, Inc, the Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society and Power Together Tennessee. Betsy is also an active honorary member of the International Society of Women Educators, Delta Kappa Gamma. 
 
 The Day the Whistles Cried is her first full-length book.
 
In 2011 and 2012, and again in 2016 and 2017 Betsy was selected by the Nashville Public Library for a special honor. She received use of the Eskind Family Writing Room, one of the library’s four individual writer’s rooms, giving her a private, dedicated space of her own in which to write and work for the entire year. This has been her favorite accomplishment so far.
 
Betsy works part time as a legal research assistant. She conducts research for a small criminal defense law firm that serves some of the most vulnerable and underrepresented populations in rural Tennessee. She is also a part-time student at Nashville State Community College.  She is working toward an Associate of Science degree in History. 
 
Currently, Betsy is writing her second book. The book, titled, Trouble on Happy Hill is a work of non-fiction and like her first book The Day the Whistles Cried is based on a historic Tennessee Supreme Court case. She is also working on a writing project based on the 1842 landmark Tennessee Supreme Court case.  The case is Jacob a slave versus the State of Tennessee.  In February 2022, in partnership with Airbnb Experience, she launched a guided historical walking tour service.   The tour is called “Visit Dutchman’s Curve, experience history, Nashville style.”
 

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