Tegris Simmons

ENG 1313-01
Jinaki Abdullah
Ida B. Wells
African-American journalist and artist Ida B. Wells went through many obstacles to get
the acknowledgment she does today. She left behind an impressive legacy of social and political
heroism. She wrote many articles and participated in numerous speeches and protest. With all the
sacrifices and accomplishments she made, she managed to establish several civil rights
organizations.
In 1862, Ida B. Wells was born into a family of slaves. Luckily, because of the
Emancipation Proclamation they were free by the union. However, the state of Mississippi was
hard living for African-Americans. They faced racial prejudices and were restricted by
discriminatory rules and practices.as well as the rest of her family were slaves. During the time
of Reconstruction, Ida B. Wells parents were active in the Republican Party. Her dad was
involved with Freedmans Aid Society and helped begin Shaw University, which was built for
the newly-freed slaves. This university was where Wells got received her early schooling. At the
age of 16, a horrific tragedy hit her family. Her mom, dad, and one of her siblings died in a
yellow fever outbreak. It then became Ida responsibility to care for her siblings.
In 1884, Wells reached a personal turning point. Although she brought a first-class
train ticket to Nasheville, she was ordered by a train crew member to move to the car for
African-Americans. Due to her refusing, she was forcibly removed from the train. In the process
of her removal, she bit one of the men on the hand. Wells sued the railroad company winning a

$500 settlement in a circuit court case. This injustice influenced Ida B. Wells to write about
issues of races and politics in the South. Many of her articles were published in black
newspapers and periodicals and she soon became owner of the Memphis Free Speech and
Headlight. As she worked on expanding her career as a journalist and publisher, she worked as a
teacher in a segregated public school in Memphis. She became a very vocal critic concerning the
condition of black only schools in the city. Because of this she was fired from her job in 1891.
She eventually begin to advocate for another cause after the lynching of her friend and his two
business associates.
In 1892, three business men, Tom Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart owned a
grocery store in Memphis. Their new business caused a white-owned store in the neighborhood
to lose business. The store owner and a few of his supporters on a few occasions clashed with the
three men. Moss and the others soon got arrested on account of protecting their store against the
attack by the white vandals. However, they were never able to defend themselves against the
charges; a lynch mob took them from their cells and murdered them. These brutal murders
greatly influenced Wells, leading to her many articles pertaining to the lynching of her friend and
the unjustified deaths of other African Americans. Ida spent two months traveling in the South,
gathering information on other lynching incidents. Unfortunately, while she was away a mob
stormed the office of her newspaper business, destroying all of her equipment. Luckily, Ida
wasnt harmed but, she was warned that she would be killed if she ever returned to Memphis.
While in the north, Wells wrote a detailed article for the New York age referring to
lynching that goes on in America. In 1893, Ida began to lecture abroad in hopes of gaining
support for her cause against reform-minded white people. Around this time African American
exhibitors were banned at the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition. The Reason Why the

Colored American Is Represented in the Worlds Columbian Exposition was the article Wells
illustrated. This effort was supported by freed slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglas and
lawyer Ferdinand Barnett. As Wells anti-lynching campaign expanded, in 1898 she brought her
campaign to President McKinleys attention and asked him to make reforms. This act eventually
led to a protest. Ida B. Wells soon established several civil rights organizations. Working on
behalf of all women she formed the National Association of Colored Women. The following year
in Springfield, Illinois, many Africans faced brutal assaults that caused Wells to take action. Parts
of her work dealt with the National Equal Rights League. President Woodrow Wilson was called
to put an end to discriminatory hiring practices for government jobs. This led to her creation of
the first African-American kindergarten in her community and her fight for womens suffrage.
In 1930, Wells made an unsuccessful for the state Senate; this was a major turning
point or Ida B. Wells. Her health started to decline and she eventually developed kidney disease.
The disease took its course and in 1931, at the age of 69, Ida B. Wells died. Wells fought against
prejudice, no matter what potential dangers she faced. The memory she left behind was a
remarkable one. In her remembrance a public housing project was built by the Public Works
Administration and was named the Ida. B wells Homes in her honor.

Bibliography/Summary of resources used

Three major resources were used to assist in the compilation of this paper. Each
contributed something different in the research of Ida B. Wells.
http://mwp.olemiss.edu//dir/wells-barnett_ida/#Bibliography ("Ida B. WellsBarnett." MWP: (1862-1931). N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.)

Offered related links and information such as Jim Crow Stories: Ida B. Wells, a part of
web site companion to the PBS television series The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, which
features more information about Wells-Barnett, including links to historical documents
and video from the program. It also told of how the Chicago Landmarks Association was
her home from 1919 to 1929, located at 3624 S. Martin Luther King Drive in Chicago,
and is now a historical landmark. This resource also included the fact that in 1990, the
United States Postal Service issue a postage stamp to honor her life.
http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/publication/2009/11/20091117101358amgno
w0.2483942.html#axzz4PpRzeZAm ("IIP Digital | U.S. Department of State." Ida B. WellsBarnett: Fighting and Writing for Justice. N.p., 04 Jan. 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.)

Referenced

things such as how Wells-Barnett was active in the womens suffrage movement. It
discussed how she participated in the 1913 National American Womens Suffrage
Association march on Washington, D.C and how she founded the first black womens
suffrage organization, the Alpha Suffrage Club, the same year. Lastly,
http://www.biography.com/people/ida-b-wells-9527635 (Bio.com. A&E Networks
Television, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016)

Discussed her early life, her later career, and the injustices that led Ida B. Wells to pick up
a pen to write about issues of race and politics in the South. It was also comprised of a

few videos that were quite helpful in helping to better understand how determined and
dedicated she was to social and political activism.