Ida B. Wells was an African American journalist and activist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s.
She went on to found and become integral in groups striving for African American justice.
She went on to found and become integral in groups striving for African American justice.
On one fateful train ride from Memphis to Nashville, in May 1884, Wells reached a personal turning point that resulted in her activism. After having bought a first-class train ticket, she was outraged when the train crew ordered her to move to the car for African Americans.
She refused on principle.
As Wells was forcibly removed from the train, she bit one of the men on the hand. She sued the railroad, winning a $500 settlement in a circuit court case.
As Wells was forcibly removed from the train, she bit one of the men on the hand. She sued the railroad, winning a $500 settlement in a circuit court case.
The decision was later overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court. This injustice led Wells to pick up a pen and write.
A few years later, Wells wrote newspaper articles decrying the lynching of one of her friends and the wrongful deaths of other African Americans. Putting her own life at risk, she spent two months traveling in the South, gathering information on other lynching incidents.
Further reading: biography.com/activist/ida-b…
“The matter came up for judicial investigation, but as might have been expected, the white people concluded it was unnecessary to wait the result of the investigation—that it was preferable to hang the accused first and try him afterward.”
