Ida Wells-Barnett
Title
Ida Wells-Barnett
Subject
Civil rights
Description
Female editor and inspiration for the anti-lynching campaign of the NAACP
Creator
Amy French
Source
Image: photo by Mary Garrity, public domain
Birth Date
1862
Birthplace
Holly Springs, Mississippi, USA
Death Date
1931
Occupation
Journalist and editor
Biographical Text
Wells-Barnett was born a slave and rose to become a journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, and civil rights leader. An activist for civil rights for women and people of color, her writings exposed racial and sexual discrimination. Two of her pamphlets were quite influential, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Parts and A Red Record, 1892-1894, both of which described lynching and the struggle of black people since emancipation. Her protest influenced the NAACP to take up an anti-lynching campaign. She was actively engaged in women's clubs and formed the Women's Era Club, the first civic organization for African-American women. In 1896, she founded the National Association of Colored Women. A suffragist, she fought to make sure that women of all races secured the vote.
Bibliography
Davidson, James West. 'They say': Ida B. Wells and the Reconstruction of Race. (Oxford University Press, 2009).
Schecter, Patricia. Ida B. Wells-Barnett and American Reform, 1880-1930. (University of North Carolina Press, 2001).
The Works of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Gutenberg Press: http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/w#a5765
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