Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Felicia Timmerman
All Saints Academy, Breese

Ida B. Wells was born on July 16, 1862, in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She was a child of slaves, and the oldest of eight children. In 1880 tragedy struck. Both her parents and three younger siblings died of yellow fever. To support herself and her younger siblings, she became a school teacher at the age of fourteen. She completed her studies at Rust University, then moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1884. Four years later, she continued teaching while attending Fisk University during the summer. While in Tennessee, she refused to sit in the "colored car" and was removed from the Chesapeake Railroad train. As a result, in 1891, she was banned from teaching and took a job as an editor for the Memphis Free Speech newspaper for which she wrote about lynching and harsh treatments African Americans were facing. As a result, angry mobs ransacked the Memphis Free Speech office.

In 1893 Wells moved to Chicago, Illinois, and decided to continue her career in writing. A Chicago newspaper, the Chicago Inter-Ocean, hired Wells as editor to write articles against lynching. The paper sent Wells to pose as a widower undercover to investigate the lynching of C. J. Miller in Bardwell, Kentucky. By the time she arrived, the lynchers realized they had killed the wrong man. After investigating the case, Wells concluded that the victim, Miller, was used as a scapegoat. Although thousands were involved in the lynching, no one was punished. Wells decided to return home to Chicago when there was nothing else she could do. Not long after, she received an invitation from the "Brotherhood of Man," inviting her to visit Great Britain for a lecture tour. She accepted the offer. While in England, Wells shared her anti-lynching message with several groups. At the same time, she began sending articles to the Chicago Inter-Ocean newspaper. While still in England, the American press began writing tasteless articles about Wells.

In 1894 the Memphis Daily Commercial and The Memphis Scimitar sent copies of these articles to England. The British people were stunned and formed an anti-lynching group of their own. They even thought about traveling to America, but this course was not taken. That same year, Wells went back to Chicago.

Ida B. Wells Barnett used the media to fight racism, publishing articles on African-American issues in her own Chicago newspaper, the Conservator.

Wells was not just a newspaper writer, but a journalist who challenged others to take risks and stand up for their beliefs. Upon reading articles in the Chicago Tribune about parents removing their children from classes taught by an African American, Wells became very emotional. She immediately sent letters to the newspaper editor, Robert W. Patterson, condemning this action. Weeks passed and none of her articles appeared in his newspaper. Wells decided to speak with Patterson face to face. After much arguing, disagreement, and no progress, she made a promise to herself that she would not give up. She knew Jane Addams could influence many people, so she explained the situation to Addams. Addams agreed to form a committee of influential people to meet at the Hull House to discuss this matter. These seven people confronted Robert W. Patterson, and he stopped his policy.

In 1895 Ida B. Wells married Ferdinand L. Barnett, a Chicago lawyer, public official, and a publisher of the Conservator, an independent Chicago newspaper. However, not long before their marriage, Wells had bought the Conservator, becoming the editor, publisher, and business manager of the newspaper. Instead of giving the daily news, she wrote about things near and dear to her heart, the African-American problems in the community. The Conservator kept a close eye on political men and their judgment of African-American causes. If an African-American candidate was the only one in the party to lose an election, the Conservator would often accuse the African-American readers of being afraid to vote for their own. Not only was Wells contributing to the success of her own newspaper, but her husband was also, since Wells made him an editor. His writings consisted of religious stories, manners, and family life. It was his way of trying to

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improve and advance African American life. The Conservator was personal journalism at its best with Ida B. Wells-Barnett as its editor-in-chief.

In 1931 Wells took ill and was rushed to a hospital. After a life of writing, fighting, and attempting to find justice for African Americans, she passed away in Chicago on March 25, 1931, at the age of 69.

In 1990 Ida B. Wells-Barnett was honored on a postage stamp as part of the Black Heritage Series. Wells was someone who defended her principles under all circumstances. She was a strong leader and supporter of African Americans and their rights to gain freedom. Wells can be remembered by all as a woman of strength, courage, and love.— [From Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, Ida B. Wells-Barnett: Woman of Courage, Franklin Watts, New York, 1992; Dennis Bradin Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin, Ida B Wells: Mother of the Civil Rights Movement, Clarion Books, New York, 2000; Catherine Lavender, http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/wells.html.]

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