Ida B. Wells-Barnett (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931), a fearless anti-lynching crusader, journalist, and suffragist, passed away on this day. Born into slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Wells lost her parents and a brother to yellow fever at age 14. She went on to attend Rust College and Fisk University and became a teacher. In the 1880s, she famously refused to give up her seat in a segregated train car and successfully sued the railroad. Writing under the pen name “Iola,” she exposed the horrors of lynching and racial violence, becoming one of the most influential voices for justice in American history.
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