Ida B. Wells Anti-Lynching Campaign

ANSWER: Ida B. Wells was an African-American journalist from Holly Springs. Ms. Ida attended Fisk University and Rust college. Ida was an activist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States.

Wells was on of the founding members of the NAACP. In 1930, Wells was disgusted by the nominees for the state legislature, so she decided to run for Illinois State Legislature. This made her one of the first black women to run for public office in the U.S. The Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. She was a person who never stopped believing in what she thought or knew was important to her and other people of her race and gender. She had to have a large amount of courage to do all that she has accomplished in her time, and this is why she is an important figure to the Harlem Renaissance.

Ida B. Wells, an African-American woman, and feminist, shaped the image of empowerment and citizenship during post-reconstruction times. The essays, books, and newspaper articles she wrote, instigated the dialogue of race struggles between whites and blacks, while her personal narratives, including two diaries, a travel journal, and an autobiography, recorded the personal struggle of a woman to define womanhood during post-emancipation America. The novel, _THEY SAY: IDA B. WELLS AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF RACE_ , provides an insight into how Ida B. Wells's life paralleled that of

Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was a newspaper editor and journalist who went on to lead the American anti-lynching crusade. Working closely with both African-American community leaders and American suffragists, Wells worked to raise gender issues within the "Race Question" and race issues within the "Woman Question." Wells was born the daughter of slaves in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on July 16, 1862. During Reconstruction, she was educated at a Missouri Freedman's School, Rust University, and began teaching school at the age of fourteen. In 1884, she moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where she continued to teach while attending Fisk University during summer sessions. In Tennessee, especially, she was appalled at

Wells, on the other hand, was a civil rights leader that focused all of her resources against lynching and illegal treatment of others. She believed that African Americans should be putting all of their efforts into protecting themselves from those that would try to take away their rights as citizens. In doing so they would prove their conviction for equality and receive equal treatment. Wells is most known for her passion when she refused to move from a first class train seat that she purchased. The conductor and baggage man dragged her out and had her arrested (The Gale Group, n.p.). After this event she began to actively write against companies that deny people of their rights. She later became a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909, in order to increase awareness to their mistreatment. It worked in many cases in the following years such as when they protested against President Wilson over him introducing segregation in

Ida B. Wells became an international activist for African-American rights when she informed the English people about lynching in America. She became a well-known

During the latter 19th and early 20th centuries racism and racial segregation were considerable problems. Mob violence, including lynchings were responsible for the deaths of thousands of black men, women and children, often for crimes they had no part in or which were not even committed. Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born into slavery by James and Elizabeth Wells during the Civil War. She attended Rust College, which was partly founded by her father in Mississippi. After Wells’ parents died of yellow fever, she attained a teaching position at a local school by lying about her age. After some time teaching she moved to Memphis with two of her sisters, where she acquired another teaching position and continued her schooling at Fisk University. While her professional life was moderately successful, her personal life was dismal, however, “it is the very qualities that problematize her personal relationships… that will impel her to undertake… a courageous crusade against lynching” (DeCosta-Willis). Being a freed black woman in the south, Wells had firsthand knowledge of the segregation and racial tension of the time. This knowledge and her experiences gave her insights about the South that were crucial in her successful crusade against lynching and segregation.

As a well-known civil rights activist of her time, Ida B. Wells began her journey to her ultimate ideologies when she was a young girl. Growing up as a slave in Mississippi, her access to education was limited to learning at the Freedman’s Bureau schools. Throughout her life she followed the well paved pathway of her father, the town “race” man, to lawful justice for all citizens, not just African American or white. The contending journalist didn’t lose sight of her family, African American community or her commitment to serving God, but allowed her strong belief in human rights and equality to help her grow stronger as a member of her society.

Ida B. Wells was a woman dedicated to a cause, a cause to prevent hundreds of thousands of people from being murdered by lynching. Lynching is defined as to take the law into its own hands and kill someone in punishment for a crime or a presumed crime. Ida B. Wells’ back round made her a logical spokesperson against lynching. She drew on many experiences throughout her life to aid in her crusade. Her position as a black woman, however, affected her credibility both in and out of America in a few different ways.

Ida Bell Wells, more commonly known as Ida B. Wells, was born in Holly Springs Mississippi on the 16th of July in 1862. Ida was raised by her mother Lizzie Wells and her father James Wells. She was born into slavery as the oldest of eight children in the family. Both Ida’s parents were enslaved during the Civil War but after the war they became active in the Republican Party during the Reconstruction era. Ida’s father, James, was also involved in the Freedman’s Aid Society (Biography.com). He also helped to start Shaw University. Shaw University was a university for the newly freed slaves to attend, it was also where Ida received the majority of her schooling. However, Ida received little schooling because she was forced to take care of her other siblings after her parents and one of her siblings passed away due to Yellow Fever. Ida became a teacher at the age of 16 as a way to make money for her and her siblings. Eventually Ida and all her sisters moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to live with their aunt, leaving all their brothers behind to continue working. In Memphis Ida began to stand up for the rights of African Americans and women.

America has a history riddled with both successes and failures alike. Among America’s greatest disgraces is that of the segregation of African Americans following the Civil War. When the war had finally ended, a period known as the “Reconstruction” began. During this time, the country began to attempt to mend it’s self politically, economically, and, most importantly, socially. In the southern portion of the United States, great atrocities were being committed against African Americans, and yet, this was not something that would be taken lightly. In the book, 'They Say': Ida B. Wells and the Reconstruction of Race, James West Davidson covers a large portion of the Reconstruction and particularly on the life of a young Ida B Wells. It is

Ida B. Wells was a well known figure throughout reconstruction in the South from the late 1880’s to early 1900’s. She was an activist for equality in women's rights and black men. She mainly fought with evidence that she recorded herself to use as examples to spread the word. She worked with many groups and hosted many rallies against inequality using word to mouth to unleash the truth that the government was covering at the time. She understood to fight against this segregation she would have to get the audience more involved in understanding what they're fighting for and that it was inhumane to slaughter men for their skin color or standing up for themselves.

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association and Lucy Stone and other women formed the American Woman Suffrage Association.

In the Jim Crow south, there were laws that made it acceptable to lynch many African Americans, men, women and children. Ida B. Wells, a famous African American activists, teacher, newspaper publisher, and heavily involved in the anti-lynching movement (Gabbidon, Greene, & Young, 2002, p. 21). Wells traveled not only within the United States but to other countries to spread the word about what heinous things that were happening to African Americans. In 1892, three of her closest friends were lynched in Memphis, TN (Gabbidon, Greene, & Young, 2002, p. 21). The lynching of her friend infuriated her and she channeled her grief and anger into her news articles. Wells wrote a series of articles in the Free Speech newspaper that she owned.

Ida B Wells was known to be an crusader for justice. She loved to explore she traveled the United States and some of the other Foreign countries raising awareness of oppression of African Americans and women. Mrs. Ida B was born on July 16, 1862, in Holly Springs , Mississippi .When Mrs. Ida B was 16 years old, she was orphaned. Her parents died as victims of the Yellow Fever Epidemic in 1878. Mrs. Ida B received her education and training at Shaw University. She was a teacher, journalist and a public speaker. Mrs. Ida B was married to Ferdinand Barnett , he was the owner of the Chicago Conservator. Mrs. Ida B was the one, well one of the ones who founded the NAACP. Her home town recognized and remembered her by naming the post office ''The