Elizabeth Meredith Lee was born on October 7, 1888 in Brunswick, Maine. She received her B.A. in 1910, and her M.A. in 1912, both from Mount Holyoke College. While she worked towards her master's degree she was a tutor in the Latin Department. From 1912-1914 she taught at the Shipper School for Girls in Pennsylvania. In 1915 she became a missionary in Japan for the Methodist Church, spending eight months in Tokyo before going to Fukuoka to become the head of the Happy Hill School for Girls. She remained in that position until 1924 (although on furlough 1920-1922), then returned to the United States for health reasons. Lee continued to work for the Methodist Board of Foreign Missions with responsibility for work with girls and women in Africa, Europe, and particularly Latin America. She also worked for the Refugee Settlement Program of the Methodist Committee for Overseas Relief. After retiring from the Board in 1960, Lee traveled the world as a member of the United Nations Speakers' Bureau. She died on August 11, 1990 in Shelton, Connecticut at the age of one hundred and one.