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Born in Holly Springs, MS
Ida B. Wells was born July 16, 1862 in Holly Springs, MS to slaves James and Lizzie Wells. She was the oldest of her siblings. The Wells family, as well as the rest of the slaves of the Confederate states, were decreed free by the Union, about six months after Ida's birth, thanks to the Emancipation Proclamation. -
Transition to Memphis
Wells moved to Memphis at the young age of 20 to pursue a life in teaching after most of her family died in the Yellow Fever outbreak in Holly Springs. She was 16 when her family died and she had to take care of her siblings that survived and 18 when she began working as a teacher. When she moved to Memphis she continued to work as a teacher she began to love what she did. -
Writing and Activism
Wells had purchased a first class train ticket from Memphis to Nashville in May of 1884, when entering the train the crew forced her to move to the rear of the train even though she bought the ticket just as any other passengers. She was outraged and removed from the train. She then filed a lawsuit against the company, won but the decision was overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court. This injustice led Ida B. Wells to pick up a pen to write about issues of race and politics in the South. -
The Lynchings Began
In 1892 three African-American men Tom Moss, Calvin McDowell and Will Stewart.This new store drew in all the customers from the white owned store nearby. The men guarded their store against attack and ended up shooting several of the white vandals. They were arrested and brought to jail, a lynch mob took them from their cells and murdered them that night. These brutal killings incensed Wells, leading to her write articles on lynchings and the wrongful deaths of other African Americans. -
Red Record
In 1893, Wells published A Red Record, a personal examination of lynchings in America. -
Later in Her Career
After brutal assaults on the African-American community in Springfield, Illinois, in 1908, Wells sought to take action: The following year, she attended a special conference for the organization that would later become known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Though she is considered a founding member of the NAACP, Wells later cut ties with the organization; she explained her decision thereafter, stating she felt the organization lacked action-based initiatives. -
Her Departure
Ida B. Wells died of kidney disease on March 25, 1931, at the age of 68, in Chicago, Illinois. She left behind an impressive legacy of social and political heroism. With her writings, speeches and protests, Wells fought against prejudice, no matter what potential dangers she faced. She once said, "I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap."
