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Ida B. Wells-Barnett (July 6, 1862-March 25, 1931) Journalist, anti-lynching crusader, co-founder of the NAACP Wells was born to slave parents in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She was educated at Rust University, a high school and industrial school for former slaves established in Holly Springs in 1866, and went on to study at Fisk University. Her earliest jobs were in the teaching field. In 1892 she became part-owner of The Memphis Free Speech. On March 9 of that year she printed an article that denounced the lynching of three of her friends, accused of raping three white women. Her article angered many Memphis whites and she was forced out of town. The offices of The Memphis Free Speech were destroyed by an angry mob. This event launched her lifelong career as an anti-lynching crusader and pioneering journalist. She traveled across the country and in Europe to protest lynchings, called for the establishment of anti-lynching legislation, and exposed racial injustice. In 1910 she helped co-found the NAACP. She served at some of the leading papers of her era including The New York Age, The Chicago Defender, and Chicago’s The Conservator, a paper jointly owned by her husband, Ferdinand Barnett. She died of uremia on March 25, 1931. |
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