Maxine (Atkins) Smith (October 31, 1929 — April 26, 2013) born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, was an academic, civil rights activist, and school board official.
[1] In 1955 she married Vasco A. Smith, Jr., a dentist, civil rights leader, and the first black county commissioner in Memphis.
[1] In 1957, Smith applied to pursue graduate studies at the University of Memphis, but was denied admission because she was black.
[2][5] Through her leadership with the Memphis NAACP, Smith advocated for civil rights by organizing sit-ins, marches, lawsuits, voter registration drives, and student boycotts such as the "If You're Black, Take It Back" campaign to boycott downtown stores which had segregated water fountains and work forces.
[2][5] In 1968, Smith served on the coordinating committee of the Memphis sanitation strike, an event which brought Martin Luther King Jr. to the city, where he was assassinated on April 4.