Ida B. Wells Memorial Plaza

Ida B. Wells is nationally recognized as an anti-lynching advocate, a champion of civil rights and women’s suffrage with roots in Memphis, TN. The Memphis Memorial Committee, in partnership with the Neshoba Community Resource Center, invites you to join us in raising $230,000 to erect a life-size bronze statue and build a plaza at the intersection of Beale and 4th Streets.  This newly developed plaza will be an added tourist attraction and a key stopping point on Memphis’ Heritage Trail. The plaza is proposed to include seating, landscaping, and plaques that acknowledge the supporters of this tribute to Ida B. Wells.  We have already raised $129,667 towards this goal!  This campaign with ioby will raise the remaining $100,333  needed for the plaza.

With the memorial to Ida B. Wells, we will honor her heroism and inspire those who continue her legacy. To learn more about this effort visit us  at idabwellsmemphis.org.  Join us!

1.      Commissioned artists to create a bronze life-size statue  

2.      Finalize the design for the Ida B. Wells Plaza.

3.      Secure resources and in-kind support for labor and materials.

4.      Raise funds for the plaza.

5.      Construct the plaza.

6.      Celebrate the grand opening on Ida B. Wells’ Birthday - July 16, 2021

Ida B. Wells is nationally recognized as an anti-lynching advocate, a champion of civil rights and women's suffrage.  But when she lived in Memphis, she was still just a black woman and she was "run out of town for stirring Negros up."  Her life was threatened and her office on Beale Street was destroyed because she reported on the brutal lynching of three Memphis men in 1892.  Ida B. Wells risked her life to oppose oppression and racism in America.  She deserves to be honored for her heroic stand on injustice that inspired change and challenged American societal ailments.

With this monument Ida B. Wells, we will honor her heroism and inspire those who continue her legacy.