Ida B Wells Research Paper

1380 Words6 Pages
Ida B. Wells is best known as one of the most influential women in what, at the time, was considered a civil rights movement focused around masculinity. Wells came from humble beginnings and grew to become a journalist and an activist who led an anti-lynching campaign in the South. Throughout her life she met and partnered with notable civil rights leaders in the fight for racial equality. Even though most believe she wasn’t honored properly until recently, one cannot deny the influence she had in the fight. To begin with, Ida B. Wells was born a slave in 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi to James and Lizzie Wells. About six months after her birth the Wells family was declared free due to the Emancipation Proclamation. James Wells was heavily…show more content…
wells was one of the main people to take an interest in lynching. In March 1892, three friends of Wells opened a grocery store. The successful store was located across the street from a white owned grocery store. A white mob angry about the loss of business decided to run the black storeowners out of town. The black men heard about the mob’s plan and took action to protect the store and themselves. The next day, white newspapers gave their accounts on what had happened the day before, claiming that "Negro desperadoes" had shot white men (Sterling 78). This in turn incited another mob incident. A group of white men went to the jail that was holding the three black and killed them. After this Wells urged blacks to leave Memphis. She told them that because the city of Memphis refuses to protect them and their rights that they should save their money and go somewhere…show more content…
Her articles were now being printed by the New York Age and wells began lecturing throughout the northeast to spread the horrible truth of lynching. In 1893, she went overseas and toured England, Scotland, and Wales meeting with leaders and giving speeches. Later that year, she met with Frederick Douglass and others to write “Reasons Why the Colored American is not in the World’s Columbian Exposition.” “This pamphlet documented the progress of blacks since their arrival in America and was in response to the exclusion of blacks in the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and was distributed to over 20,000 people” (Sterling
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    Born into slavery in the South near the end of the Civil War, Ida B. Wells-Barnett saw the disparity in the rights of African Americans and whites and became an insightful and frequent writer on the topic, particularly on the horrifying practice of lynching. Even though she faced great tragedy, adversity, controversies and threats, she wrote and agitated for the betterment of her race with incredible energy and persistence. Ida helped to found a number of organizations, including the National Association

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