Ida B. Wells

Who Was Ida B. Wells?

Ida B. Wells was an influential African American journalist, abolitionist, and feminist who played a pivotal role in leading the anti-lynching crusade in the United States during the 1890s. She was also instrumental in founding and participating in organizations dedicated to advocating for African American rights and justice.

Early Life, Family, and Education

Ida B. Wells was born on July 16, 1862, in Holly Springs, Mississippi, as an enslaved person. She was the eldest daughter of James and Lizzie Wells. Six months after her birth, the Emancipation Proclamation declared the Wells family and all other enslaved people in the Confederate states free. Despite this newfound freedom, African Americans in Mississippi faced pervasive racial prejudices and restrictive discriminatory laws.

Wells’ parents were active members of the Republican Party during the Reconstruction era. Her father, James, was a founding member of the Freedman’s Aid Society and helped establish Shaw University (now Rust College), a school for formerly enslaved people, where he also served on the first board of trustees.

Ida received her early education at Shaw University. However, at the age of 16, tragedy struck when both of her parents and one of her siblings died during a yellow fever outbreak. Wells, now the head of her family, took on the responsibility of caring for her remaining siblings. Displaying resilience, she persuaded a nearby school administrator to hire her as a teacher, even though she claimed to be 18 years old.

In 1882, Wells moved to Memphis, Tennessee, with her sisters to live with an aunt. Her brothers found work as apprentices, and Wells continued her education at Fisk University in Nashville.

Civil Rights Journalist and Activist

Ida B. Wells became a powerful voice for African American rights, writing extensively on racial issues and politics in the South. Her articles, often published under the pen name “Iola,” appeared in various Black newspapers and periodicals. Eventually, she became an owner and editor of the Memphis Free Speech and later the Free Speech and Headlight.

A transformative moment in Wells’ life occurred in May 1884 during a train journey from Memphis to Nashville. Wells, having purchased a first-class ticket, was ordered to move to the segregated car for African Americans. She refused on principle, and in response, she was forcibly removed from the train. In an act of defiance, Wells bit one of the men attempting to remove her. She subsequently sued the railroad, winning a $500 settlement in a circuit court case. However, the decision was overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court, a miscarriage of justice that propelled Wells to become a vocal advocate for civil rights.

Alongside her journalism career, Wells worked as a teacher in Memphis’ segregated public schools. She became a staunch critic of the deplorable conditions in schools for Black students in the city. In 1891, her outspoken criticism led to her dismissal from her teaching position.

Wells’ activism took on a new urgency following the lynching of a close friend and two of his business associates. This tragedy spurred her to dedicate her efforts to exposing the brutal realities of lynching and advocating for anti-lynching laws in the United States.

Anti-Lynching Activist

Ida B. Wells was propelled into activism after a lynching in Memphis in 1892, which profoundly impacted her and ignited her commitment to the anti-lynching movement. The incident involved three African American men—Tom Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart—who had opened a grocery store that began to draw customers away from a nearby white-owned business. Tensions escalated between the men and the white store owner, leading to a violent confrontation.

One evening, the three men were forced to defend their store against an attack, resulting in the shooting of several white assailants. Despite their actions being in self-defense, Moss, McDowell, and Stewart were arrested and imprisoned. A mob, however, seized them from their cells and brutally lynched them.

In response, Wells began writing powerful editorials condemning the lynching of her friends and the broader epidemic of racial violence in the South. Braving immense personal risk, she traveled across the region, gathering testimonies and evidence of other lynching cases. Her courageous reporting led to her newspaper office being destroyed by a mob, though Wells was not there at the time, as she had been warned that returning to Memphis would result in her death.

While in the North, Wells continued her anti-lynching work, penning a comprehensive report on the issue for The New York Age, a prominent African American newspaper led by T. Thomas Fortune.

A Red Record

In 1893, Wells published A Red Record, a groundbreaking examination of lynchings in America, which highlighted the systemic violence against African Americans and the urgent need for reform. That same year, Wells traveled internationally to garner support for her cause, while also protesting the exclusion of African American exhibitors from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. In her pamphlet The Reason Why the Colored American Is Not in the World’s Columbian Exposition, she criticized the racial discrimination at the event, drawing attention to the injustice.

Husband and Family

In 1895, Wells married Ferdinand Barnett, a prominent lawyer and journalist, and became Ida B. Wells-Barnett. The couple had four children together, balancing their personal lives with their activism.

NAACP Co-Founder

A dedicated advocate for civil rights, Wells played an instrumental role in the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Though she was an early member, she eventually distanced herself from the organization, believing that its leadership was too passive in its efforts to combat racial injustice. Despite this, Wells continued to champion causes such as women’s suffrage and racial equality throughout her life.

In 1896, she founded the National Association of Colored Women, a vital platform for African American women to engage in social reform. Her activism extended to advocating for an end to discriminatory hiring practices in government jobs, a cause she pursued by lobbying President Woodrow Wilson.

Legacy and Death

Wells’s activism extended into her later years as she worked to improve educational opportunities for African Americans, including establishing the first African American kindergarten in her community. She continued to fight for women’s rights, including an unsuccessful bid for the Illinois state senate in 1930.

Ida B. Wells passed away from kidney disease on March 25, 1931, at the age of 68, in Chicago, Illinois. Her legacy as a fearless advocate for racial justice and women’s rights endures. As she once stated, “I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap.” Through her writings, speeches, and activism, Wells left an indelible mark on American social and political history.