Ida B. Wells

Who Was Ida B. Wells?

Ida B. Wells was a pioneering African American journalist, abolitionist, and feminist known for her vigorous anti-lynching campaign in the United States during the 1890s. A formidable advocate for civil rights, she played a crucial role in establishing organizations focused on advancing justice for African Americans.

Early Life, Family, and Education

Ida B. Wells was born into enslavement in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on July 16, 1862, as the eldest daughter of James and Lizzie Wells. Approximately six months after her birth, the Union’s Emancipation Proclamation declared the Wells family, along with other enslaved individuals in the Confederate states, free. Despite their newfound freedom, the Wells family, like many African Americans in Mississippi, faced pervasive racial discrimination and systemic inequalities.

Wells’ parents were active participants in the Republican Party during the Reconstruction era. Her father, James Wells, contributed significantly to the community through his involvement with the Freedman’s Aid Society. He was instrumental in founding Shaw University (now known as Rust College), a school dedicated to the education of formerly enslaved individuals, and served on its inaugural board of trustees.

Ida received her early education at Shaw University; however, her academic pursuits were interrupted at the age of 16 due to a family tragedy. The devastating loss of both her parents and a sibling to a yellow fever outbreak thrust Wells into the role of caretaker for her surviving siblings. Demonstrating remarkable resilience, she convinced a local school administrator that she was 18 years old and secured a teaching position.

In 1882, Wells relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with her sisters to live with an aunt, while her brothers began apprenticeships as carpenters. During this period, Wells continued her education at Fisk University in Nashville, furthering her commitment to personal and intellectual growth.

Ida B. Wells: Civil Rights Journalist and Activist

Ida B. Wells was a pioneering civil rights journalist and activist whose work addressed the pressing issues of race and politics in the American South. Writing under the pen name “Iola,” she contributed numerous articles to Black newspapers and periodicals. Wells later became the owner of the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight and subsequently the Free Speech. A defining moment in her life occurred during a train journey from Memphis to Nashville in May 1884. Despite holding a first-class ticket, she was ordered by the train crew to move to the segregated car for African Americans. Refusing to comply, she was forcibly removed from the train, during which she bit a member of the crew on the hand. Wells subsequently sued the railroad and initially won a $500 settlement; however, this decision was later overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court. This experience galvanized her resolve to confront injustice through her writing.

In addition to her journalism, Wells worked as a teacher in a segregated public school in Memphis, where she became a vocal critic of the inadequate conditions of Black-only schools. Her outspoken critiques led to her termination in 1891. Following the murder of a close friend and his two business associates, Wells intensified her activism against lynching.

Anti-Lynching Activist

The lynching of her friend Tom Moss, along with Calvin McDowell and Will Stewart, marked a significant turning point for Wells, prompting her to launch an anti-lynching campaign in 1892. The three men, who owned a grocery store, faced violent backlash from a white store owner and his supporters. After defending their store one night and being arrested, they were taken from their cells by a lynch mob and brutally murdered. Wells responded by writing powerful newspaper articles that condemned the lynching of her friend and highlighted the wrongful deaths of other African Americans. Undeterred by the personal risk, she traveled extensively through the South for two months to gather information about other lynching incidents.

One of her editorials incited a violent response in Memphis, leading to a mob storming her newspaper’s office and destroying her equipment. Fortunately, Wells was in New York City at the time, having been warned that her life was in danger if she returned to Memphis. From the North, she authored an in-depth report on lynching in America for the New York Age, an African American newspaper.

‘A Red Record’

In 1893, Wells published A Red Record, a profound examination of lynchings in America. That same year, she took her message abroad, lecturing to garner support among reform-minded individuals. Upset by the exclusion of African American exhibitors from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, Wells produced and disseminated a pamphlet titled “The Reason Why the Colored American Is Not in the World’s Columbian Exposition,” with the support of prominent abolitionist Frederick Douglass and lawyer Ferdinand Barnett.

In 1898, Wells brought her anti-lynching campaign directly to the political arena, leading a protest in Washington, D.C., where she called on President William McKinley to implement reforms.

Personal Life

In 1895, Wells married Ferdinand Barnett and subsequently became known as Ida B. Wells-Barnett. The couple had four children together.

NAACP Co-Founder

Wells was instrumental in establishing several civil rights organizations. In 1896, she founded the National Association of Colored Women and is recognized as a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Other notable co-founders included W.E.B. Du Bois, Archibald Grimke, Mary Church Terrell, and Mary White Ovington. Following violent assaults on the African American community in Springfield, Illinois, in 1908, Wells sought to take action by attending a special conference for the organization that would eventually become known as the NAACP. However, she later distanced herself from the organization, feeling it lacked a strong commitment to action.

As a member of the National Equal Rights League, Wells advocated for the end of discriminatory hiring practices in government jobs. Additionally, she founded the first African American kindergarten in her community and fought fervently for women’s suffrage. In 1930, she made an unsuccessful bid for the Illinois state senate.

Death and Legacy

Ida B. Wells died of kidney disease on March 25, 1931, at the age of 68 in Chicago, Illinois. Her legacy is one of unwavering social and political heroism. Through her writings, speeches, and activism, Wells fought against prejudice, often at great personal risk. She famously stated, “I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap,” a testament to her courage and commitment to justice.