The Light of Truth
Who was Ida B. Wells?
Ida Bell Wells Barnett was an American investigative journalist, educator, early leader in the Civil Rights movement, and one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Wells was born into slavery, however about six months after her birth, the Wells family, and slaves of the Confederate states were freed. According to Biography, her father, James was involved with the Freedman’s Aid Society and helped her attend Shaw University (now Rust College). Unfortunately, in September 1878, at the age of 16, tragedy struck, and Wells lost both her parents and her infant brother due to a Yellow Fever outbreak. Following their funerals, Wells found works as a teacher in a Black elementary school in Holly Springs. About two years after, her grandmother, Peggy had a stroke, and her sister Eugenia died. Wells and her two younger sisters then moved in with an aunt in Memphis.
Shortly after moving to Memphis, Wells was hired in Woodstock by the Shelby County school system. She also gained tons of publicity when she wrote Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, a newspaper article for The Living Way: a black church weekly.
On May 4th, 1884, a train conductor ordered Wells to give up her seat in the first-class ladies’ car and move to the smoking car. As stated by Wikipedia, the previous year the Supreme Court ruled against the federal Civil Rights Act of 1875, which banned racial discrimination in public accommodations. After Wells refused to give up her seat the conductor and two men dragged her out of the car. She ten hired an African American attorney to sue the railroad. She won her case on December 24th, 1884 and was granted a $500 award.
In 1893, Wells joined other African American leaders in calling for the boycott of the World’s Columbian Exposition and worked with The Chicago Conservator: the oldest African American newspaper in the city. She also organized The Women’s Era Club: a first-of-its-kind civic club for African American women that would later be renamed the Ida B. Wells Club in her honor.
Ida B. Wells began working on her autobiography but was unable to complete it. On March 25th, 1931, at the age of 68, she passed away due to uremia (kidney failure).
In 1970, her autobiography, Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B, Wells was published and edited by her daughter, Alfreda Barnett Duster.
Books
*Kids*
Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told | Walter Dean Meyers
Who Was Ida B. Wells? | Sarah Fabiny
Yours for Justice, Ida B. Wells: The Daring Life of a Crusading Journalist | Phillip Dray
Ida B. Wells: Discovering History’s Heroes | Diane Bailey
The Red Record | Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells: Mother of the Civil Rights Movement | Dennis B. Fradin, Judith Frandin
Ida B. Wells | Sara Spiller
*Adults*
Ida B. the Queen | Michelle Duster
Passionate for Justice | Catherine Meeks
Black Woman Reformer Ida B. Wells, Lynching, and Transatlantic Activism – Sarah L. Silkey
To Tell the Truth Freely: The Life of Ida B. Wells – Mia Bay
Movie(s) | Film(s) | Documentaries'
Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice – 1989
Source(s)
"Ida B. Wells." Biography, 27 April 2017, https://www.biography.com/activist/ida-b-wells
"Ida B Wells." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 June 2021, https://enwikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_B.Wells
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