Have you ever heard of Ida B.? Wells. Wells was an activist for black and women’s rights during the late 1800s and early 1900s. She risked her life to help people see the truth of the American Southern states. Today, I’m going to talk about her early life, middle and later life, and her achievements.
Early Life Ida B. Wells had a tough early life. Ida was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi on July 16, 1862. she was born into slavery “Though she wasn’t yet two years old when the Emancipation Proclamation freed her family” (Ida B. Wells: A Voice for Justice. Ida was the first child of James Madison Wells and Elizabeth Warrenton. Ida had six siblings but one was an infant and died, as did her parents, all during the Yellow …show more content…
Ida was 16 when her parents and infant brother died, and she was left to take care of her remaining five siblings. So, she lied about her age to get a job as a teacher at a local school. In 1882, Ida and her siblings moved in with an aunt in Memphis, Tennessee. There she continued teaching and pursued higher education.
Middle Life In her middle life Ida started to get more interested in black and civil rights and in 1891 using the pen name “Iola,” wrote some newspaper articles critical of the education available to African American children “(Ida B. Wells-Barnett), her teaching contract was never renewed so Wells decided to switch to journalism instead. Ida started investigating and reporting lynches in America, she also helped expose the brutality of these lynchings. She authored many powerful articles condemning this type of violence and showing justice. In 1892, after three friends of