Ida B. Wells, Anti-Lynching Crusader

Ida B. Wells lived during the late 19th and early 20th century, fighting for civil and women’s rights movements. She was a well-established journalist and most famous for her anti-lynching campaigns. Born in 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Ida lived with her parents until they and her youngest brother were killed by a severe yellow fever epidemic. Left with her five remaining siblings, she took the responsibility of being their primary caregiver. Deciding to move to Memphis with her aunt, Wells became a leading woman figure in the African-American community that she had been living in. “By her late twenties, Wells had become one of the preeminent female journalists of her day, and the editor and co-owner of the Memphis, Tennessee, newspaper Free Speech and Headlight” (page 4). Also launching a strong investigation into lynching and its conquests in the South, Wells found herself to become exiled from there forever.

“The true worth of a race must be measured by the character of its womanhood.” One of the many quotes from Mary McLeod Bethune, an African-American woman who carried many titles in her lifetime: educator, politician, civil rights activist, etc., but whose main goal remained the same, empowering her community. Her boldness coupled with her fierce determination allowed her to push through the barriers caging women in, at that time, educating them on their voting rights and establishing a council dedicated to empowering negro women. However, if granted the opportunity to converse with her, my questions would not focus on her accomplishments; instead, I would ask what prompted her to stray from the norm of African-Americans at the time and fight

Jane Addams, Whitney M.Young, Jr., and Ida B Wells were all great social reformers of the nineteenth and twentieth century. They were passionate about the lives of others which drew them to a calling that not only effected their generation but generations after till this day. The impact they left were building blocks that impacted the welfare of society for and shaped the diversity of American civilization for harmony. Though they came from various backgrounds they all had a commonality which was social justice and the courage to lead and make ways for others who have been oppressed and marginalized.

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 was one of the great African American women who helped advance the feminist and African-American agenda. Ida B Wells was born a slave in 1862. Despite this, she was still able to get an education at Shaw University at the age of 16. Unfortunately, her parents and a sibling died of the Yellow Fever Outbreak and she was forced to drop out of school. However, she was able to receive a job at a school and taught there until she moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Due to racism, Wells was forcibly removed from a train car when she refused to move to the car for African Americans. She bit one of the men on the hand. After this incident, Wells was inspired to write and became a journalist. She then became and Anti-lynching protestor and lead a march in Washington, D.C. During this time, she becomes a founding member of the NAACP. During her life, she spoke great speeches and wrote inspiring writings.

Three young Black businessmen; Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Henry Stewart were arrested after several White men were injured in a street fight (Pinar, 2006). On the third day of the men being jailed; armed White men walked into the jail, took the three prisoners out and lynched them a mile outside the town (Pinar, 2006). Thomas Moss; one of the men who was lynched and a close friend of Wells, in his last words before being lynched stated “tell my people to go West; there is no justice for them there” (Wells, 1970, p. 51). In her newspaper, Wells encouraged her readers to take Moss’ advice, adding that there was no protection for Black people in Memphis (Pinar, 2006). Several Black families took the advice and left Memphis and as a result, White businesses that relied on Blacks suffered. Two months after the lynching, Wells wrote an editorial about the lynching; suggesting that Whites were very angry that the three Black businessmen were opening a grocery store in a Black district that was once served only by Whites (Pinar, 2006). After writing the editorial, Wells traveled to New York where she learned that the White businessmen in Memphis wanted her dead. Discussions were held at the Memphis Cotton Exchange Building on lynching Wells (Pinar, 2006). Wells never thought to return to Memphis, as Whites were ordered to kill her on sight (Pinar,

Ida B. Wells was the most influential African American woman of her time, who set the path for many women like Rosa Parks, Shirley Chisholm, and many others, who can walk with their heads held high and no more looking back. She achieved so much while she was here on earth. Wells’ was born in during slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She grew up with both parents (her mother’s name was Lizzie Bell, who was sold by a number of owners and her father’s name was James Wells, who had one master, who was also his father and whose last name he took his own) living in the home and she had seven siblings. It was important two both of her parents that their children would receive the best education, her father served on the first board of trustees of Rust College, a founder of the school, and it was ran by Northern missionaries. Once she reached her teenage years her parents and youngest sibling were stroke with an incurable disease and died from it. She decided to keep her family together by accepting a teacher position. Ida managed to continue her education at a nearby college named Rust College and once completed her moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to help with raising her younger siblings. In Tennessee, Ida started to fight for racial and gender justice; the cause for her willing to a take stand on these issues was an incident that happened to her aboard a train leading to her sue the railroad company for violating the 1875 Civil Right Act. Wells’ was an anti-lynching crusader

During these times, it was unheard of for a person of color to stick up for themselves and battle a white person or company in court. Wells is a true radical activist, using her voice followed by action to fight for the justices deserved. Her journalism was said to be the meaning of her life, it is how she got her voice

Lynching is a mob action where a person is killed by a mob through beating, torture, shooting or hanging. Lynching was common in the US from 1880’s to 1960’s, with a peak in 1920’s. The most lynched people were African-American men though other people were lynched in other occasions. The main reason for lynching was the perceived breaking of social norms. Whites lynched black men to enforce white supremacy. At this time, there was a popular belief that black people were inferior. Whites would kill black people and take away their property since they believed that black people did not deserve a high social status in the society. Most of lynching incidents happened in the Southern States. Only a few happened

Wells was born on July 16, 1862 in Holly Springs, MS. In 1901, she published a book called, "Lynching and the Excuse for It”. She wrote that the main goal of lynching was to intimidate blacks and prevent them from becoming involved in politics so that whites could maintain power in the South, so she showed them what she was made of and urged African Americans to protest by refusing to ride streetcars or to shop in white owned stores. She also refused to march at the back of a white delegation of women at a suffrage demonstration, she was all about women rights as well as african american rights. She wrote articles to local newspapers until she began her own newspaper called the Free Speech where she wrote about racial segregation and discrimination.

Ida B. Wells–Barnett was said to be the Joan of Arc of the 1920's. As the anti-lynching spokeswomen for African American, Wells showed courage and independence in her attack on lynching {upon what ever she seemed fit to attack.} She was born into slavery during the Civil War in 1862. She witnessed the loss of both parents to yellow fever and also saw the brutal lynching of three of her close friends in Memphis. These tragic events inspired Wells to launch a crusade against lynching at the age of thirty years old. Wells spoke out against lynching, Jim Crow Laws and segregation. She published

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

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.

Henry Smith was one of the first African American to be lynched with fire. His death caused newspapers to publish his story all over the United states, but newspapers in the South almostly defended the citizens of Paris, Texas. Which goes to show how bias people were against the rights of African Americans because newspaper were conveying the message to the public that lynching was acceptable in any given scenario. Ida B. Wells went to the crime scene and investigated by interviewing witnesses and collected evidence, she found there to be no rape charges on Smith. She continued on by writing the horrors and injustice of lynching. All of that paid off because she became a part of the federal government and passed the anti-lynching legislation.

Ida B. Wells produced powerful evidence to try to persuade people to support her anti-lynching campaign. This study will focus on how the pamphlets in this Royster collection show the challenges faced by African Americans. One of the primary focuses is about lynching and what the African American community response is to lynching. Another area of focus will be on the black clubwomen’s movement and what it meant to African American women. The topics mentioned demonstrate the types of challenges that African Americans had to endure over the years.