Ida B. Wells was a journalist and activist that led an anti-lynching battle in the 1890s. She was born a slave in 1862 to James and Lizzie Wells in Holly Springs, Mississippi. At six months old she was decreed free by the Union. Ida’s parents were involved in the Republican Party during Reconstruction. At the age of 16 her parents and one of her younger siblings died in the Yellow Fever outbreak. By the year 1882 she and her siblings that survived moved to Memphis, Tennessee with an aunt. Her brothers found work as carpenters while she continued to further her education at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.
During the month of May in the year 1884, Wells reached her turning point. Wells bought a first class train ticket and was told to move to the car for African Americans, Wells refused on principle. She bit one of …show more content…
She sued the railroad and won a settlement of $500 in a circuit court case. Later the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned the decision. This is the incident that leads Wells, under the moniker ‘Lola’, to write about the issues of race and politics in the South. Eventually Wells became an owner of Headlight and of the Memphis Free Speech and later, of Free Speech. Wells also worked as a teacher in a segregated public school system in Memphis. She was a vocal critic of the segregation of the school system and was fired in 1891 because of her attacks. In 1892, Tom Moss, Calvin McDowell and Will Stewart set up a store. Their new store attracted more customers and took them away from the white owned store. The white store owner along with his followers conflicted with the black men a few times. The