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Ida was the daughter of freed Mississippi slaves. Her parents and younger sister were killed by yellow fever.

She later decided to support her remaining siblings by getting a job as a teacher.

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Ida moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to help take care of her younger siblings who lived with her aunt.

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Ida was asked to give up her seat on the train for a white man and move to a "Jim Crow" car to which she refused.

She bit the conductor when he attempted to remove her and was forcefully removed from the train.

This encounter sparked her journalism career.

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Ida and her siblings were raised by their parents to believe in the Christian faith, be hardworking, and take pride in their education.

When she began as a journalist, her work was aimed at a African-American and Christian audiences.

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In 1889 three of Ida's friends were lynched.

Three men who owned a grocery company were lynched because they took away business from a white owned store. Attackers wanted to eliminate competition for the store.

The men fought back, were arrested, and eventually killed.

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The death of the three of her friends caused Ida to write a passage in the The Memphis Free Speech.

Later, in Chicago, she would write Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases.

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The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States (1895)

Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (1892)

Why the Colored American is Not in the World’s Columbian Exposition

Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of IDA B. Wells, Ida B.Wells and Alfreda M. Duster (1970)

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After the lynching incident, Ida stated in the Free Speech that the city of Memphis was against the wellbeing of the African-American population.

She advised readers to leave the city to protect their lives.

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"There is therefore only one thing left to do; save our money and leave a town which will neither protect our lives and property, nor give us a fair trial in the courts, but takes us out and murders us in cold blood when accused by white persons."

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Ida wrote about topics such as lynching, white suppression, and Jim Crow laws.

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Founder of the National Association of Colored Women's Club.

Member of Niagara Falls NAACP.

Chicago Housing Authority project named after her.

Scholarship fund given out by her grandchildren.

U.S. postal stamp with her image on it.

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Ida was the first African-American correspondent for a mainstream white newspaper.

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Continued writing anti-lynching works.

Helped develop several reform organizations.

Fought for women's suffrage.

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Washington D.C. and the Fight for Desegregation

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Washington D.C. and the Fight for Desegregation

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Ida marched in the 1913 march for universal suffrage in Washington, D.C.

Along with Jane Adams she helped block the segregation of schools in Chicago.

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Even after retiring Ida continued writing and even ran for Illinois State Legislature.

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Ida married Attorney F. L. Barnett in Chicago.

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Baker, Lee D. “Ida B. Wells-Barnett(1862-1931) and Her Passion for Justice, Black Women, African American Women, Sufferage, Women's Movement, Civil Rights Leaders.” Duke People, April 1996, https://people.duke.edu/~ldbaker/classes/AAIH/caaih/ibwells/ibwbkgrd.html. Accessed March 2023.

Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. “Ida B. Wells.” Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/inductees/profile/ida-b-wells. Accessed March 2023.

Norwood, Arlisha R. “Ida B. Wells-Barnett.” National Women's History Museum, 2017, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ida-b-wells-barnett. Accessed March 2023.

Schechter, Patricia, et al. “Ida B. Wells, 1862-1931.” Northern Illinois University Digital Library, https://digital.lib.niu.edu/illinois/gildedage/ida-b-wells. Accessed March 2023.

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Ida passed away on March 25, 1931.