Ida Wells

Ida Wells was born during 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She was a fearless anti-lynching crusader, suffragist, women's rights advocate, journalist, and speaker. It was in Memphis where she first began to fight for racial and gender justice. In 1884 she was asked by the conductor of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company to give up her seat on the train to a white man and ordered her into the smoking or "Jim Crow" car, which was already crowded with other passengers. Despite the 1875 Civil Rights Act banning discrimination on the basis of race, creed, or color, in theaters, hotels, transports, and other public accommodations, several railroad companies defied this congressional mandate and racially segregated its passengers. She refused to give up her seat and the conductor who was assisted by two other men, dragged her out of the car. When she returned to Memphis, she immediately hired an attorney to sue the railroad. She won her case in the local circuit courts, but the railroad company appealed to the Supreme Court of Tennessee, and it reversed the lower court's ruling. This was the first of many struggles she encountered, and from that moment forward, she worked tirelessly and fearlessly to overturn injustices against women and people of color.

Her suit against the railroad company also sparked her career as a journalist. Many papers wanted to hear about the experiences of the 25-year-old school teacher who stood up against white supremacy. Her writing career blossomed in papers geared to African American and Christian audiences. In 1889 she became a partner in the Free Speech and Headlight. The paper was owned by Rev. R. Nightingale, the pastor of Beale Street Baptist Church. He "counseled" his large congregation to subscribe to the paper and it flourished, allowing her to leave her position as an educator.
In 1892 three of her friends were lynched.

In May 1892, in response to an article on a local lynching, a mob ransacked her offices and threatened her life if she did not leave town.

Moving to Chicago, Wells continued to write about Southern lynchings. While investigating, she would go directly to the site of a killing, sometimes despite extreme danger. In 1895, she published The Red Record, the first documented statistical report on lynching.
A forceful speaker, Wells lectured widely in the North and in Great Britain. She was a founding member of the National Afro-American Council, served as its secretary, and was chairman of its Anti-Lynching Bureau. In 1910 she founded and became the first president of the Negro Fellowship League. Throughout her life, Wells was militant in her demands for equality and justice for African-Americans, and insisted that the African-American community must win justice through its own efforts. She spent her life promoting understanding, tolerance and mutual respect among people. She made a significant impact in paving the way for a more humane social order and her courageous spirit is truly inspirational.