Ida B. Wells was an important figure during the late 19th and early 20th century and was known for writing about the conditions of African Americans throughout the South. Wells was born into slavery during the civil war in Holly Springs, Mississippi on July 16th, 1862. During the era of Reconstruction, her parents were active in the Republican Party. Her father, who was involved in the Freedmen’s Aid Society helped start Rust College, a historically black liberal arts college, which Wells would attend. However, Wells was expelled from the college due to a dispute between her and the university president. Meanwhile, there was a yellow fever outbreak, which resulted in the death of her parents and a sibling. Being the oldest, it was left to Wells to raise her surviving siblings.
She and her siblings eventually moved in with their aunt who lived in Memphis Tennessee. After her brothers were able to find work, Wells continued her education at Fisk University in Nashville. It was a train ride from Memphis to Nashville that led Wells to start writing about race in politics. She had bought a first-class ticket for her train ride to Nashville, however, when she boarded the first-class car, she was forced to move to the car for African Americans. Refusing to move to the African American Car, Wells as removed from the train altogether.
After this, Wells began to write under the name “lola” in several black newspapers. She would later become the owner of The Memphis Free Speech, and Headlight and Free Speech, both of which were newspapers. Wells turned her focus to investigating and writing about lynchings, after the lynching of her close friend. She began investigating several cases of lynchings around the south to bring to light the atrocities committed against African Americans in the south.
Wells would be forced to leave Memphis after an editorial she wrote about an 1892 lynching. The editorial enraged local whites, and a mob came to her newspaper press destroying and burning all her equipment. At the time of the incident, Wells was in New York, many believing that her absence from the office saved her life. The incident with the mob and the immense amount of threats Wells received forced her to move to Chicago Illinois. Wells, however, would continue to write about lynchings in the New York Age, a newspaper run by a former slave.
Wells was also active in the women's suffrage movement. She criticized white women in the suffrage movement who ignored lynchings, and the suffering of African Americans. Due to this, she was ostracized by many women’s suffrage organizations. This did not stop her, as Wells would create the National Association of Colored Women, an organization that addressed both the issues of civil rights and women’s suffrage.
Ida B. Wells is considered an American Hero who spent her life fighting for the rights of women, and African Americans, and the safety and protection of all American Citizens.
I really like all the details you include in your post. What I found the most interesting was how she became owner of The Memphis Free Speech and Headlight and Free Speech. I also liked how despite the post being primarily about Wells' achievements, you include aspects of her childhood that help build her character and future motivations. It might've also been cool to hear more about the role she played in the women's suffrage (although I do think it's a cool fact that she created the National Association of Colored women among a ton of other things she created/owned).
ReplyDeleteI really like how you gave background information of Wells's family life before describing her intervention in politics and Woman's/African American suffrage movements. I thought it was interesting how Wells turned to journalism in order to portray her thoughts and ideas about segregation and woman's rights in contrast with the more violent actions taken by other African Americans in order to attain their freedoms. Wells had also expressed her opinion in politics through the establishment of the Alpha Suffrage Club where she realized that African American woman needed access to better education so they could understand politics and participate in the electoral process.
ReplyDeleteSource - https://suffrage100ma.org/ida-b-wells/
I enjoyed how you incorporated the childhood of Ida B Wells. Specifically, how she had to raise her siblings after her parents had died from yellow fever. Even after being given this burden, she was still able to fight for woman's rights. I also thought that it was really interesting how Wells approached fighting for her rights in the form of the press. However, I thought that it was also very interesting that she was still able to voice her opinions even after being attacked and threatened. Wells even traveled internationally to share her opinions with people all over the world, impacting tons of lives.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ida-b-wells-barnett
Hey Arynn,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how detailed your post was and how it covered engaging aspects of her life. I thought that it was interesting that after Wells' parents died, she became more engaged in the suffragette movement; similarly, Lucretia Mott's, another suffragette leader, father died when she was young as well. Her father passed away when she was around 22 and Mott had to help take care of her mother who was struggling with debt. I wonder if the absence of a father had an effect on involving these women into the suffragette movement.
Source: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/lucretia-mott