BLACK IN TIME: A Moment In OUR History

Ida B. Wells

Educator, Activist, Journalist And Organizer, Ida B. Wells (Barnett) Was Born On This Day In 1862.

Wells Was An Outspoken Black Woman Who Made Her Mark In History During The Post-Reconstruction Era.She Began Her Career As A Teacher But It Was As A Journalist That She Gained Prominence.

As Co-Owner Of The Memphis Free Speech, She Wrote Several Emotionally Charged Newspaper Articles Against Race Discrimination And The Lynching Of Black Men. She Discovered During Her Research That 728 Black Men And Women Had Been Lynched By White Mobs. Of These Deaths, Two-Thirds Were For Small Offenses Such As Public Drunkenness And Shoplifting.

Wells Was Also A Key Figure In The Growth Of The Women's Club Movement. She Organized The First Black Women's Club In Chicago Which Took Her Name And Over Which She Presided. While On A Speaking Tour In Britain, In 1894, She Helped To Establish The British Anti-Lynching Committee.

As A Co-Founder Of The NAACP, It Was Her Passionate Writings And Speeches On The Topic Of Lynching That Prompted The Organization To Become More Focused On That Issue During The Early 20th Century.

In 1884, Wells Led A Campaign Against Racial Segregation By A Local Railway. A Conductor Of The Chesapeake, Ohio & South Western Railroad Company Told Her To Give Up Her Seat On The Train To A White Man And Ordered Her Into The "Jim Crow" Car, Which Was Already Crowded With Other Passengers. The Federal Civil Rights Act of 1875 — Which Banned Discrimination On The Basis Of Race, Creed Or Color In Theaters, Hotels, Transport And Other Public Accommodations — Had Just Been Declared Unconstitutional In  Civil Rights Cases (1883). As A Consequence, Several Railroad Companies Were Able To Continue Racial Segregation Of Their Passengers.

Wells Refused To Give Up Her Seat, 71 Years Before Rosa Parks. The Conductor, Who Had To Get Help From Two Other Men, Dragged Her Out Of The Car. When She Returned To Memphis, She Immediately Hired A Lawyer To Sue The Railroad. She Won Her Case In The Local Circuit Court, But The Railroad Company Appealed To The Supreme Court Of Tennessee, Which Reversed The Lower Court's Ruling in 1887.

After Her Retirement, Wells Wrote Her Autobiography, Crusade for Justice (1928). She Died Of Uremia In Chicago On March 25, 1931, At The Age Of 68.

"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.



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