Biography of Ida B Wells

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Ida B. Wells was a woman who devoted her life to social justice and equality for both African Americans and women. She was a woman of unique character. Her courage was what caused her to stand out amongst the majority of black women during her time who were subject to both racial and gender oppression. Wells was amongst the first of many to dedicate her life to the fight against injustice and the push for African American progression.
Wells was born a slave in Holly Springs, Mississippi on July 16, 1862, just a year before President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation (Fradin 2). She was born in times of the Civil War and experienced the hardships first hand. Following the Civil War, Wells lived the early years of her life through the Reconstruction Era. During this time she was introduced to the freedoms and opportunities that African Americans had long been denied (SITE).
Although her parents, James Wells and Elizabeth Warrenton, spent the majority of their lives prior to the Civil War as slaves, they were able to provide for their seven children because her mother was...

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