Ida B Wells
Pioneering investigative journalist
Ida B.
Wells (1862–1931) was an American journalist and activist who documented lynching in the post-Reconstruction South.
Born into slavery, she became a pioneering investigative reporter whose work exposed mob violence against Black Americans as terrorism rather than justice.
Her pamphlets, including *Southern Horrors* and *A Red Record*, used statistics and case studies to refute claims that lynching punished criminal behavior.
She was also a suffragist and co-founder of the NAACP.
- journalistNews profession practitioner
- investigative journalismIn-depth reporting exposing wrongdoing
- lynchingExtrajudicial killing by mob
- racial terrorViolence aimed at ethnic groups
- activistVigorous cause champion
suffrage · women's suffrage · Memphis · NAACP · crusader · muckraker · civil rights · civil rights movement · newspaper · Chicago · World's Fair · fearless · pamphlet · investigation · mob · Jim Crow · justice · courage
Ida B Wellsarmchair critic
One who critiques without participating
fence-sitter · bystander · slacktivist · keyboard warrior · gradualist