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“Ida B. Wells has been described as a crusader for justice, and as a defender of democracy. Wells was characterized as a militant and uncompromising leader for her efforts to abolish lynching and establish racial equality. Wells challenged segregation decades before Rosa Parks, ran for congress and attended suffrage meetings with the likes of Susan B. Anthony and Jane Addams, yet most of her efforts are largely unknown due to the fact that she is African American and female.”
After reading some of the works by Ida B. Wells- Barnett I wondered what sort of impact she had on the issues that she felt so strongly about. I was most interested in her influence on suffrage and racial equality. I noticed she wrote very passionately about both. During her time period she was considered a minority, being first an African American and secondly a woman. She had very few rights. She could not vote because she was a woman, she could not even sit or eat where she wanted in public because she was African American; however, all of that was going to change, and over 150 years later she would be recognized as one of the people who set these changes into motion.[http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html]
Born as a slave, Ida B. Wells had always known the burden of racial issues. But in May 1884, on a train going from Memphis to Nashville, she took a stand. She had purchased a first- class ticket and rightfully refused to move to the designated African American car when told by the train crew to do so. A man then tried to drag her from her seat and in turn she bit him. He returned with two other men and of course they succeeded in dragging her from her seat and removing Ida from the train altogether. Ida sued the railroad, winning a $500 settlement in circuit court. Sadly the ruling was overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court.[http://www.biography.com/people/ida-b-wells-9527635] But from that point on she rallied to overcome injustices against African Americans and women. She wrote several editorials about the lynching of three black men and also conducted interviews and a full informal investigation to find out why they were lynched. These editorials led to the boycott of businesses owned by whites and threats against her life. Still, she pursued equal rights. She soon after published Southern Horrors: Lynch Laws in All Its Phases, which was about the lynchings in America. She continued to write and fight for equal rights, and eventually became one of the founders of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). [http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/ida-b-wells]
Ida B. Wells not only stood up for the rights of African Americans, but also for those of women. Ida was very active in the beginnings of the suffrage movement that was sweeping the United States shortly after equal rights were granted to African American men. She founded the Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago, the first black women’s suffrage organization. She marched in several national suffrage parades, but one in particular made an impact. Although black men now had equal civil rights, racism still played a huge role in the lives of African Americans. Ida planned to march with thousands of other women through Chicago during a suffrage parade before she was discouraged by several of the rally leaders, who said many of the white women refused to march with a woman of color. Ida agreed, but secretly fell into step with the other women mid-parade. Several white women surrounded her so that Ida could march the whole parade while going mostly unnoticed. [http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/rightsforwomen/WellsBarnett.html & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_B._Wells#Later_public_career]
Below is a link to a YouTube video that points out a few interesting things about Ida B. Wells- Barnett’s role in the suffrage movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUMKFP4p2Lo
Ida B. Wells used her gift of writing as well as her strong will to make an impact on the fight for equal rights, whether it be for African Americans or for women. She is a historical figure and has schools across the country named after her. In 1988 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Overall, she did have a great impact on the equal rights movement for women and especially for African Americans. [http://www.greatwomen.org/women-of-the-hall/search-the-hall/details/2/166-Wells-Barnett]
ataylor7 