Mary Church Terrell was a nationally influential civil rights leader, educator and suffragist who was born in Memphis in 1863. She was the daughter of Robert Reed Church, one of the South’s first African American millionaires, and grew up in a city that played a central role in shaping her views on race, education and equality. Terrell later became a founding member of the National Association of Colored Women and a prominent advocate for women’s suffrage and civil rights.
The Mary Church Terrell marker connects Memphis to early national civil rights leadership during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her legacy reflects the city’s importance in producing Black intellectual and political leaders whose influence extended far beyond the region.
Quick facts
- Coordinates: 35.1390382, -90.0475076
- Type: Monument
Contact
- 🔗 Website: https://register.shelby.tn.us/shelby_landmarks/
OSM tags
- Historic: Monument
- Name: Mary Church Terrell
- Website: https://register.shelby.tn.us/shelby_landmarks/