From the flatlands of Holly Springs, Mississippi, to the city of Chicago, Illinois – Miss
Ida B. Wells has spread her influence throughout the United States. Her work has revolutionized the minds of many Americans and through her work, has opened the eyes and minds of all of her students. As a teacher, journalist, and an early leader of the Civil
Rights movement – Ida B. Wells opened doors that White supremacists once chained shut and uncovered the truth behind the brutal public murders that took place on U.S. soil.
Through her writings and vocal activism, Wells has spread awareness to the countless lynchings of Black Americans.
Ida B. Wells was born on July 16, 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi to James and
Elizabeth Wells. At the time of
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On the contrary, her marriage to Barnett fueled her. Barnett, who was a Chicago attorney, as well as the founder and owner of one of the first Black newspapers, 'The Conservator' – sold the paper to Wells. In 1896, Wells gave birth to her first child and also founded the National
Association of Colored Women's Club.
In 1908, the Springfield riots occurred in Springfield, Illinois. That same year, the body of a White woman was found in an alleyway. Immediately after this discovery, the police officers begin to investigate the situation and determine that the prime suspect is a
Black man named "Frog" James. He was accussed of the murder not because their was undeniable evidence, but because he did not have an alibi. Soon after being taken into custody, he was lynched. His body was mutilated by a White mob and his head was placed on a fence post in the same alleyway where the woman's body had been found.
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After these brutal events, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People was formed. Wells was one of the two women to that were present from its initial start. Today, she is widely known as one of the founding members of the NAACP. In
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This same year, on President Abraham Lincoln's one hundredth birthday, Wells documented in her autobiography, "While the country was preparing to celebrate Lincoln's one hundredth anniversary, the Negro race, whose history was inseparably linked with that of Lincoln was still far from emancipation (Wells, Ida B., Crusade for Justice, 321.)"
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is just one of the many lasting impressions that Wells has left us with. Her writings, campaigns, and advocacy has been the voice for many Black Americans who have been silenced by the force of a racist society. Ida B. Wells has altered the history of the United States. Through her work as a teacher, writer, activist, and feminist – Wells has one long-lasting message,
"The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them (Wells, Ida B.)"
Wells honesty has revealed countless injustices that have occurred in the United States.
From the flatlands of Holly Springs, Mississippi, to the city of Chicago, Illinois – Miss Ida B.
Wells has become known as the crusader for
Ida B. Wells could not have been more ordinary. She was born an urban slave during the Civil War. Her parents, both of mixed blood, were able to send her to Rust University where she would develop a stubborn personality that would
(New Orleans). All the evidence that was found is very unclear, but the next suspect in the murder is Joseph Mumfre.
On July 25, 1946, two young black couples- Roger and Dorothy Malcom, George and Mae Murray Dorsey-were killed by a lynch mob at the Moore's Ford Bridge over the Appalachee River connecting Walton and Oconee Counties (Brooks, 1). The four victims were tied up and shot hundreds of times in broad daylight by a mob of unmasked men; murder weapons included rifles, shotguns, pistols, and a machine gun. "Shooting a black person was like shooting a deer," George Dorsey's nephew, George Washington Dorsey said (Suggs C1). It has been over fifty years and this case is still unsolved by police investigators. It is known that there were atleast a dozen men involved in these killings. Included in the four that were known by name was Loy Harrison. Loy Harrison may not have been an obvious suspect to the investigators, but Harrison was the sole perpetrator in the unsolved Moore's Ford Lynching case. The motive appeared to be hatred and the crime hurt the image of the state leaving the town in an outrage due to the injustice that left the victims in unmarked graves (Jordon,31).
Ida B. Wells was born into slavery, and lived in Holly Springs Mississippi. She was later freed, and learned from her parents what it meant to be a political activist. By 1891, Wells was the owner of the newspaper, Free Speech, and was reporting on the horrors that were occurring in the south. Wells, along with other people of the African American activist community were particularly horrified about the lynching’s that were occurring in the south. As a response to the lynching that was occurring, and other violent acts that the African American community was dealing with Wells wrote three pamphlets: Southern Horrors, The Red Record, and Mob Brutality. Muckraking and investigative journalism can be seen throughout these pamphlets, as well as Wells intent to persuade the African American community, and certain members of the white community to take a stand against the crime of lynching. Wells’ writings are an effective historical text, because she serves as a voice to an underrepresented African American community.
She earned her masters from Columbia University in elementary education and became an expert on early childhood education. She also did a number of volunteer work as well she volunteered with organizations such as Bedford-Stuyvesant Political League and the League of Women Voters, which eventually led to her political career. Moreover, Chisholm career began to take form the greatest obstacle she had to face was the “hostility she encountered because of her sex, the hostility she would face for the rest of her political life” (pg. 44). The hostility she faced ultimately shaped her role in the civil rights movement because she was motivated to prove that not only African Americans were capable of partaking in politics but women as
Two detectives were assigned to the case: Harry Hanson and Finis Brown. [2] When they and the police arrived at the crime scene, it was already swarming with people, gawkers and reporters. The entire situation was out of hand and crowded, everyone trampling all over any hopes for good evidence. [2] One thing they did report finding was a nearby cement block with watery blood on it, tire tracks and a heel print on the ground. There was dew under the body so they knew it had been set there just after 2 a.m. when temperatures dropped to 38 degrees.
Her plan was a success and she was able to start her own women’s nursing corps. Because of their efforts and determination, those two women were acknowledged for helping allowing women to become nurses
On July 28, 1979, a woman came across two corpses hidden under bushes at the side of the road.
From the summer of 1979 to the summer of 1981, at least twenty-eight people were abducted and killed during a murder spree in Atlanta, Georgia; these killings would come to be known as the Atlanta Child Murders. While the victims of the killings were people of all races and genders, most of the victims of the Atlanta Child Murders were young African-American males. These murders created great racial tension in the city of Atlanta, with its black population believing the murders to be the work of a white supremacist group. (Bardsley & Bell, n.d., p. l) However, when police finally apprehended a suspect in the case, they found it was neither a white supremacy group, nor a white person at all; it was a 23 year-old African-American man named Wayne Williams. (“What are”, n.d.)
Ida B. Wells was born into slavery in Holly Springs Mississippi, in 1862. She experienced firsthand the hardships of the Civil War and what followed in the Reconstruction Act from her childhood to a young adult. So she was very familiar with the freedoms and opportunities that African Americans had been denied. At first things weren’t as bad for Ida for her parents were well known and liked. But when she was 16 tragedy struck her hometown while she was off visiting her grandmother; yellow fever had plundered the lives of many including her parents and youngest brother. Now it was up to her to take care of her 5 other siblings. She had to drop out of school to take on the responsibilities of her family and found a job as a school teacher. Though she hadn’t completed schooling of her own, she was allowed the job because she knew the basic education and most of the students were illiterate.
While in the process of them digging they saw part of the victims clothing sticking out and dug around it discovering the body. Immediately following their discovery, they contacted the Fort Worth police department where they along with the coroner’s office and homicide detectives began working on the case. We were able to actually get in touch with the member of the landscaping crew that made the discovery in order to ask a few questions. Jesus Gonzales, the man who discovered the victims remains. When asked what his initial thoughts were when he first noticed the body he responded “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, it was just a normal day of work and then I saw the clothing sticking out not thinking anything of it I dug around it and that’s when it came to my attention that this was indeed a
Smith, J, & Phelps, S (1992). Notable Black American Women, (1st Ed). Detroit, MI: Gale
From June 1962 through January 1964, 13 single women between the ages of 19 and 85 were murdered throughout the Boston Area. The first victim was Anna Slesers; a seamstress was murdered on the evening of June 14, 1962. She lived on her own in Boston. Her son found her body in the bathroom with a cord around her neck tied in a bow. Detectives found Slesers in an obscene state: nude and stripped of dignity. She had been sexually assaulted and the apartment was ransacked.
Once police were called visible blood stains were on her bed and pillows. No trace of her killer was found. It was not until a year later that her skull was found in what was known as Bundy 's graveyard. Following her disappearance other women were also found missing. Of those almost a hundred women were Georgeann Hawkins, Janice Ott, Denise Naslund, and Brenda Ball. Every one of his victims had similar features. They had a middle part, dark hair and were all very intelligent. When any of the remains were found of these victims it was too late to identify any fingerprints or things that would help link it to Bundy. Bundy murdered women in Washington, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Florida, Idaho, and Vermont. One of his victims was lucky and managed to get away. 18 year old Carol DaRonch was approached by Bundy in November of '74 pretending to be a police officer. Bundy told her that her car had been broken into and she should go with him to file a report at the police station. Right away DaRonch realized he was driving away from the station. He then stopped the car pulled a gun on Carol and tried to handcuff her. He slipped and handcuffed both cuffs on one wrist. Carol 's quick thinking of kicking Bundy and making her way to another car. She was safe but the same night Bundy was able to trap another victim. Carol 's get away to help was able to give the police some sort of evidence to who this attacker was. She still had the handcuffs to her wrist and retrieve smudged fingerprints from them. Carol was able to give them a description of the man and his car. Days later she found her coat had blood on it and brought it back to the station and found out the blood was type O. Later this evidence would match Ted Bundy 's and be used to connect him to this crime. The victim that Bundy had attacked the same night as DaRonch was Debby Kent. She was at a high school
Now that the crime has been detected and perpetrators have been cleared from the area, officers can move on to the next objective of locating, recording, and processing evidence while observing all constitutional consideratio...