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Happy Valentine’s Day! Today, February 14th, 2025, we honor Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who was a journalist, civil rights activist, and suffragist who endlessly fought against racial and sexual discrimination.
Biography
“Born a slave in 1862, Ida Bell Wells was the oldest daughter of James and Lizzie Wells. The Wells family, as well as the rest of the slaves of the Confederate states, were decreed free by the Union, about six months after Ida’s birth, thanks to the Emancipation Proclamation.” “Although enslaved prior to the Civil War, her parents were able to support their seven children because her mother was a ‘famous’ cook and her father was a skilled carpenter.” “Ida B. Wells’s [sic] parents were active in the Republican Party during Reconstruction. Her father, James, was involved with the Freedman’s Aid Society and helped start Shaw University, a school for the newly freed slaves (now Rust College) and served on the first board of trustees.” “When Ida was only fourteen [though some sources say she was sixteen], a tragic epidemic of Yellow Fever swept through Holly Springs and killed her parents and youngest sibling. Emblematic of the righteousness, responsibility, and fortitude that characterized her life, she kept the family together by securing a job teaching [at only 14 years old]. She managed to continue her education by attending near-by Rust College.”
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