Ida B . Wells
ACTIVIST AND WRITER IDA B . WELLS-BARNETT FIRST BECAME PROMINENT IN THE 1890S BECAUSE SHE BROUGHT INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION TO THE LYNCHING OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH . WELLS WAS BORN A SLAVE IN HOLLY SPRINGS , MISSISSIPPI , IN 1862 . AT THE AGE OF 16 , SHE BECAME PRIMARY CAREGIVER TO HER SIX BROTHERS AND SISTERS , WHEN BOTH OF HER PARENTS SUCCUMBED TO YELLOW FEVER . AFTER COMPLETING HER STUDIES RUST COLLEGE NEAR HOLLY SPRINGS WHERE HER FATHER HAD SAT ON THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES BEFORE HIS DEATH , WELLS DIVIDED HER TIME BETWEEN CARING FOR HER SIBLINGS AND TEACHING SCHOOL . SHE MOVED TO MEMPHIS , TENNESSEE IN THE
1880S .
WELLS FIRST BEGAN PROTESTING THE TREATMENT OF BLACK
SOUTHERNERS WHEN , ON A TRAIN RIDE BETWEEN MEMPHIS AND HER JOB AT A RURAL SCHOOL , THE CONDUCTOR TOLD HER THAT SHE MUST MOVE TO THE TRAIN ’ S SMOKING CAR . WELLS REFUSED , ARGUING THAT SHE HAD PURCHASED A FIRST-CLASS TICKET . THE CONDUCTOR AND OTHER PASSENGERS THEN TRIED TO PHYSICALLY REMOVE HER FROM THE TRAIN . WELLS RETURNED TO MEMPHIS , HIRED A LAWYER , AND SUED THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY . THE COURT DECIDED IN HER FAVOR , AWARDING WELLS
$ 500 . THE RAILROAD COMPANY APPEALED , AND IN 1887 , THE SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE REVERSED THE PREVIOUS DECISION AND ORDERED WELLS TO PAY COURT FEES . USING THE PSEUDONYM “ IOLA ,” WELLS BEGAN TO WRITE EDITORIALS IN BLACK NEWSPAPERS THAT CHALLENGED JIM CROW LAWS IN THE SOUTH . SHE BOUGHT A SHARE OF A MEMPHIS NEWSPAPER , THE FREE SPEECH AND HEADLIGHT , AND USED IT TO FURTHER THE CAUSE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS .
AFTER THE LYNCHING OF THREE OF HER FRIENDS IN 1892 , WELLS BECAME ONE OF THE NATION ’ S MOST VOCAL ANTI-LYNCHING ACTIVISTS . CALVIN MCDOWELL , THOMAS MOSS , AND HENRY STEWART OWNED THE PEOPLE ’ S GROCERY IN MEMPHIS , BUT THEIR ECONOMIC SUCCESS ANGERED THE WHITE OWNERS OF A STORE ACROSS THE STREET . ON MARCH 9 , A GROUP OF WHITE MEN GATHERED TO CONFRONT MCDOWELL , MOSS , AND STEWART . DURING THE ENSUING SCUFFLE , SEVERAL OF THE WHITE MEN RECEIVED INJURIES , AND AUTHORITIES ARRESTED THE THREE BLACK BUSINESS OWNERS . A WHITE MOB SUBSEQUENTLY BROKE INTO THE JAIL , CAPTURED MCDOWELL , MOSS , AND STEWART , AND LYNCHED THEM .
INCENSED BY THE MURDER OF HER FRIENDS , WELLS LAUNCHED AN EXTENSIVE INVESTIGATION OF LYNCHING . IN 1892 , SHE PUBLISHED A PAMPHLET , “ SOUTHERN HORRORS ,” WHICH DETAILED HER FINDINGS . THROUGH HER LECTURES AND BOOKS SUCH AS A RED RECORD ( 1895 ), WELLS COUNTERED THE “ RAPE MYTH ” USED BY LYNCH MOBS TO JUSTIFY THE MURDER OF AFRICAN AMERICANS . THROUGH HER RESEARCH SHE FOUND THAT LYNCH VICTIMS HAD CHALLENGED WHITE AUTHORITY OR HAD SUCCESSFULLY COMPETED WITH WHITES IN BUSINESS OR POLITICS . AS A RESULT OF HER OUTSPOKENNESS , A MOB DESTROYED THE OFFICES OF THE FREE SPEECH AND THREATENED TO KILL WELLS . SHE FLED MEMPHIS DETERMINED TO CONTINUE HER CAMPAIGN TO RAISE AWARENESS OF SOUTHERN LYNCHING . WELLS TOOK HER MOVEMENT TO ENGLAND , AND ESTABLISHED THE BRITISH ANTI-LYNCHING SOCIETY IN 1894 . SHE RETURNED TO THE U . S ., SETTLED IN CHICAGO , ILLINOIS WHERE SHE MARRIED ATTORNEY AND NEWSPAPER EDITOR FERDINAND L . BARNETT IN 1895 .
WELLS-BARNETT ALSO WORKED TO ADVANCE OTHER POLITICAL CAUSES . SHE PROTESTED THE EXCLUSION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS FROM THE 1893 WORLD ’ S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION IN CHICAGO AND THREE YEARS LATER SHE HELPED LAUNCH THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COLORED WOMEN ( NACW ). IN 1909 WELLS WAS A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE ( NAACP ). SHE ALSO ACTIVELY 5 CAMPAIGNED FOR WOMEN ’ S SUFFRAGE . IDA WELLS-BARNETT DIED IN CHICAGO IN 1931 AT THE AGE OF 69 .