Ida Bell Wells-Barnett (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931) was an African-American investigative journalist, educator, and an early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Wells arguably became the most famous black woman in America, during a life that was centered on combating prejudice and violence, who fought for equality for African Americans, especially women. Born into slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Wells was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation during the American Civil War. At the age of 16, she lost both her parents and her infant brother in the 1878 yellow fever epidemic. She went to work and kept the rest of the family together with the help of her grandmother. Later moving with some of her siblings to Memphis, Tennessee, she found better pay as a teacher. Soon, Wells co-owned and wrote for the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight newspaper. Her reporting covered incidents of racial segregation and inequality. In the 1890s, Wells documented lynching in the United States through her indictment called "Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in all its Phases," investigating frequent claims of whites that lynchings were reserved for black criminals only. Wells exposed lynching as a barbaric practice of whites in the South used to intimidate and oppress African Americans who created economic and political competition—and a subsequent threat of loss of power—for whites. A white mob destroyed her newspaper office and presses as her investigative reporting was carried nationally in black-owned newspapers. Subjected to continued threats, Wells left Memphis for Chicago. She married and had a family, while continuing her work writing, speaking, and organizing for civil rights and the women's movement for the rest of her life. Wells was outspoken regarding her beliefs as a Black female activist and faced regular public disapproval, sometimes including from other leaders within the civil rights movement and the women's suffrage movement. She was active in women's rights and the women's suffrage movement, establishing several notable women's organizations. A skilled and persuasive speaker, Wells traveled nationally and internationally on lecture tours.
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Born
1862-07-16
Birth Place
Holly Springs, Mississippi, U.S.
Nationality
American
Also Known As
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett Iola (pen name)
Famous As
Civil rights and women's rights activist, journalist and newspaper editor, teacher
“I want people to see (Ida B. Wells) as a real person. I also want to see Memphis as a character in the development of Ida B. Wells because she’s not coming from thin air.”
The second phase of the Ida B. Wells plaza will bring educational and narrative elements into the memorial, telling the story of Wells’ life, particularly her time in Memphis.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Saturday marked what would be legendary activist and journalist Ida B. Wells' 160th birthday. In her honor, the Ida B. Wells Museum and Cultural Center of African-American History unveiled new bricks in her honor. Rev. Leona Harris is the museum's executive director. "Her life started here...
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Saturday, July 16, 2022, is the 160th birthday of Ida B. Wells, a Mid-South pioneer in the Civil Rights movement. Friday, the Ida B. Wells museum unveiled new bricks in honor of the leader herself. ABC24 visual storyteller Shiela Whaley visited the museum to learn more...
The great Black scholar Neely Fuller once said that if you don’t understand white supremacy, what it is and how it works, everything else that you understand will only confuse you. I thought about that truism when reading much of the reaction to the lies produced by West Cook...
“I’d rather go down in history as one lone Negro who dared to tell the government that it had done a dastardly thing than to save my skin by taking back what I said. ” —Ida B. Wells. Journalist. Activist. Feminist. All these words are accurate for...
In July, a life-sized statue of Ida B. Wells was unveiled near the corner of Fourth and Beale, at the new Ida B. Wells Plaza.
The bronze likeness joined such previous tributes to Wells as a 1990 U.S. postage stamp and a 2020 Pulitzer Prize "special citation," acknowledging what the Pulitzer board described as...
In March 1898, the journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett was the sole woman among eight congressmen who made a visit to the White House. They came to implore President William McKinley to punish the killers of Frazier Baker. South Carolina’s new postmaster, who was the first Black person to hold the position, and his daughter Julia, had been shot to death by members of a white mob a month earlier.
Ida B. Wells was a journalist and activist who used her writing to highlight the sociology of racial injustice in the United States during the time of segregation. She used her work to educate Americans and the world about violence against Black men and women, especially lynching, which had personally impacted Wells’ early life in the southern states.
April 5, 2022 – The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis will host the premiere film screening of “Facing Down Storms: Memphis and the Making of Ida B. Wells” on April 19 at the Halloran Centre for Performing Arts and Education. A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by the program and film screening at 7 p.m.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Ida B. Wells is women's history. "When I think about her courage, it's unparalleled," Wells' great-grandson, Daniel Duster, said. She was an investigative journalist, educator, and civil rights leader. Wells was born into slavery in Mississippi in 1862 and after the yellow fever killed tens of...
A section of Fourth Street in Downtown Memphis Monday morning was officially renamed in honor of Ida B. Wells, the pioneering civil rights activist and journalist. About 60 people gathered at the ceremony held on the corner of Fourth and Beale Street. It’s the latest Memphis recognition for Wells, who famously fought against racism, segregation and lynchings.
HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss.– Rust College announced Tuesday that it has received $1 million for infrastructure and facility improvements. In a press release, Rust College said the $1 million allocation will help in the creation of the Ida B. Wells Social Justice and Interpretive Center on the Mississippi Industrial College (MIC) campus in the Washington Hall […]