Lide Smith Meriwether (October 16, 1829 – September 28, 1913) was a leader of the first generation of feminists and women's rights activists.

Their husbands were supportive of their wives' public activities, and played important roles in the Taxing District oligarchy.

[4][5] Meriwether's evolution as a feminist social reformer began later in life, in response to the "stage of disorder" resulting from the Civil War and Reconstruction in the South, where prostitution in Memphis remained a viable source of income for poor women and girls.

During the Civil War, many women stepped into the role of educators, and local politicians saw this as an exploitable opportunity, paying them only half of what male teachers were paid.

[3] In 1872, Meriwether published Soundings, a book dedicated to the condition of the "fallen woman", which was an attack on the double standard and hypocrisy of genteel society.

It called attention to the unequal and unjust application of social standards across gender at a time that wage inequality represented the difficulty women encountered in providing for themselves and obtaining financial independence.

This could lead women to economic desperation that forced them to obtain money in ways that incurred society's condemnation, such as prostitution.

[6] In the 1880s, Meriwether became highly active, touring the state and founding local chapters of the WCTU, including unions of African American women.

Meriwether spearheaded the first efforts to organize black women chapters, and in 1886 she presided over one of the first interracial meetings in Memphis.

[4] In 1884, Meriwether became president of the Tennessee WCTU, and working closely with state organizer Elizabeth Lyle Saxon invigorated the temperance movement.

Although the topic of sex was viewed as "indelicate" for a public debate, the activists were undeterred in advocating for their goal.

In 1887, Meriwether spoke at a state WCTU convention in Nashville, saying:Whoever hesitates to utter that which she thinks the highest truth, lest it should be too much in advance of the time, must remember that while she is a child of the past, she is also a parent of the future, and her thoughts are children born to her, which she may not carelessly let die.

The sculpture, created by Alan LeQuire, depicts three suffragists - Lizzie Crozier French, Anne Dallas Dudley, and Elizabeth Avery Meriwether.