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| Ida B. Wells-Barnett marker Holly Springs, N.E. Corner of Courthouse Square |
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Ida B. Wells-Barnett
(1862-1931)
Famed African-American journalist, educator, suffragette, and human rights activist.
Born the eldest child to Elizabeth and James Wells, she grew up in Holly Springs, and attended Shaw University, now Rust College. She was a reformer who insisted on economic and political resistance to oppression. She became head of a household at age 16 and taught at rural schools. After leaving Holly Springs and moving to Memphis, Wells went on to challenge racial discrimination on railroad ladies' cars, at the age of 20. She then went on to become part owner of The Memphis Free Speech and Headlight newspaper and, through her journalism, spearheaded the anti-lynching movement, after several friends were unjustly murdered by a white mob in Memphis, Tennessee. Wells later co-founded the NAACP, and was active in the National Association of Colored Women. Wells was honored with a U.S. postage stamp, inducted into the Mississippi Hall of Fame, and a local post office named in her honor.
Erected 2019 by Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum, Holly Springs.
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