The Story of Ida B. Wells, a Slave

Ida B. Wells is many things. A mother, a journalist, a teacher, an anti-lynching crusader, a women’s rights activist, and a civil rights pioneer. But above all, she is a hero. She faced many challenges in her life, including being born into slavery, and being orphaned at the age of sixteen. But even with all that befell her, she still managed to pave the way to a better life for herself and others.

Ida Bell Wells was born into slavery as the oldest of 7 children in Holly Springs, Mississippi on July 16, 1862. Shortly after her birth, Ida and her parents were freed under the Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued on January 1, 1863. Her father was considered a “race man”, who worked for the advancement of Black people, doing things such as campaigning for African-American political candidates, although he never ran for office himself. He also attended Shaw College, although he had to drop out to help support his family. When Ida was sixteen, while visiting a grandmother in Memphis, she received word that a yellow fever epidemic had struck Holly Springs, leaving her parents and ten month old brother dead. Now orphaned, Ida secured a teaching position to support her remaining five siblings.

Ida attended Shaw’s College, but left before she could graduate. Shortly after that, she moved to Memphis and started her crusades for the betterment of life for herself and others. There, she began to write editorials under the pen name Iola condemning violence against blacks, poor schools, disfranchisement, and the failure of black people to utilize the full potential of their rights. In 1892, Tom Moss, a friend of Ida’s and a well-respected black store owner was lynched, along with two of his friends, after trying t...

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...till around today (although they have changed their name, and their goals slightly as well). Ida worked for equality her whole life, almost right up to the day she died. The amount of lives she changed is innumerable, and her work will always be remembered. Ida Bell Wells-Barnett will forever be known as a hero.

Works Cited

"The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow." PBS. PBS, 1 Jan. 2002. Web. 2 May 2014. .

"Southern Horrors: Lynch Law In All Its Phases : Ida B. Wells ." Internet Archive. Librivox, 28 July 2013. Web. 2 May 2014.

Baker, Lee. "Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Her Passion for Justice." Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Her Passion for Justice. Duke Edu, 1 Apr. 2013. Web. 2 May 2014. .