Sue Shelton White Statue

Standing at Jackson City Hall Plaza is a monument commemorating Sue Shelton White – a prominent figure in the Tennessee women’s rights movement, who was the editor of the feminist newspaper, a suffragist, and the president of Jackson Business and Professional Women.
 
On February 19th, 1919, White, who was an active member of the National Woman’s Party as well as the Silent Sentinels, was arrested and thrown into jail for burning an image of President Woodrow Wilson during a demonstration against the president, who reneged on his promise to ratify the 19th amendment and giving American women the right to vote.
 
After the 19th amendment passed, Shelton White, who was a lawyer, continued to promote women’s rights. She wrote Tennessee’s widow’s pension act and the married women’s property act, as well as helped Eleanor Roosevelt in writing of the Social Security Act.
 
The bronze bust, made by sculptress Wanda Stanfill and dedicated on May 25th, 2017, depicts Sue Shelton White looking to the east – symbolizing the direction she had to go for a change. The engraving on the granite says, “A West Tennessee woman who changed America.” The sculpture is part of the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Heritage Trail.