About Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells was born on July 16, 1962 in Mississippi. Her father, a carpenter, and her mother, a cook, had been former slaves. Their occupations allowed Wells to enjoy a financially stable childhood. At sixteen years old, Wells found herself orphaned when her parents died from yellow fever. She then dropped out of school and took on teaching jobs to care for her five younger siblings. During her commute to work one day, Wells was forcibly removed from the ladies’ car, despite having paid for a first-class ticket, because said car was reserved for white women. Wells sued the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company, and although she lost the case, this incident inspired Wells to write a fiery op-ed that was reprinted by black newspapers nationwide.
Southern Horrors
Wells’ outspoken articles led to her being fired from her teaching job, but she quickly took on a job as editor-in-chief at the black-owned newspaper The Memphis Free Speech and Headlight. It was while working for the Free Speech that Wells published Southern Horrors, an in-depth analysis of anti-black lynching and white mob behavior in the South. When Wells’ first stumbled upon the lynching issue, it was being framed as something that only affected criminal black men. These black men were usually accused of raping white women and thus deserved to be lynched. It was not until a close friend of Wells was lynched that Wells came to realize the true motivations of these white mobs. Her friend had not been a criminal, and certainly not a rapist. He was an educated black business owner, church goer, and a well-respected member of their community. His only crime was owning a successful black grocery store that rivaled a nearby white grocery store. His untimely murder spurred Wells’ lifelong anti-lynching activism.
She investigated all the lynching cases in her area. She found that many of these black men had not even been accused of rape, and the ones that had had not actually committed any rape. She published her findings in Southern Horrors, where she exposed the cruel and hypocritical nature of white mobs. Wells suggested that the lynching of black men by white mobs was motivated, not by a need to bring rapists to justice, but rather by white men’s fear that black people were becoming too successful. White men saw the increase in educated black people, the economic success of black businesses, and the financial independence of a growing black middle class. These white men, who had once held a monopoly over wealth, saw their power over the black population steadily diminishing. They used lynching as a way to reinforce control over black people.
“Nobody in this section of the country believes the old thread-bare lie that Negro men rape white women. If Southern white men are not careful, they will overreach themselves and public sentiment will have a reaction; a conclusion will then be reached which will be very damaging to the moral reputation of their women.”
Wells then went on to point out that lynching was not used to protect black female victims of rape the same way it was used to protect white women. White men who raped black women often faced little, if any, consequences. Southern Horrors exposed the rape, sexual assault, and molestation of black women and girls at the hands of white men. Wells made sure that these women’s stories were heard at a time when black victims of sexual crimes were largely forgotten and ignored.
Leadership and Empowerment
The outrage caused by Southern Horrors forced Wells to flee Memphis. She settled in New York, where she aligned herself with the city’s wealthy elite black families. Wells found a community of black women and peers who readily and willingly rallied around the anti-lynching cause. Wells positioned herself as a leader of the anti-lynching movement, encouraging other black women to rise to leadership positions and take part in activism work. Wells helped found the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, and was the inspiration for several African American women’s clubs throughout New England. These women’s clubs fostered community, organization, and activism amongst Northern black women. Wells spearheaded the black women’s club movement, paving a way for black female leadership at a time when black women feared that participating in activism would further masculinize them. Wells made it possible for black women to be both activists and respectable ladies.
Contribution to Gender Equity
Ida B. Wells embodied the breaking of gender norms in the way that she lived – she had affairs while she was young, waited until her late thirties to get married and have kids, and worked while her husband stayed at home. Wells was extremely outspoken and often the only woman in groups of other male writers and journalists whom she clashed with. She used her journalism to make the nation aware of the lynching crisis in the South, bringing justice to the thousands of black men, women, and children victims of white mob terrorism. Wells redefined the political position of black women, spearheading a coalition of black women’s clubs that fought for uniquely black women’s rights.
This photo depicts gender equity using Wells and her contemporaries, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois. As black people, these three figures need to overcome racism, which is represented by the brick wall. The boxes that they stand on represent assistance in the form of resources. Wells needs more resources to achieve the same successes because she battles misogyny in addition to racism. DuBois needs the least help due to his extensive education and Northern upbringing. Of the three figures, DuBois had the most privileges and therefore needs the least assistance to achieve success.