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Ida B. Wells
Investigative journalist & anti-lynching crusader
The reporter who risked her life to document lynching and force America to see it.
The rise
Born enslaved in Mississippi, Wells became a teacher and then a fearless journalist and newspaper co-owner in Memphis, refusing to be silenced about racial violence.
What they did
After friends were lynched, she launched a data-driven investigative campaign exposing lynching as terror, took her crusade to Britain and the world, co-founded the NAACP, and fought for women's suffrage.
The full picture
Her militancy led male and white allies to marginalize her, and a white mob destroyed her Memphis newspaper, forcing her to flee the South.
Why it matters
Wells pioneered investigative journalism as a tool of justice and set the model for evidence-based human-rights advocacy.
“The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press.”