1862 – Ida B. Wells-Barnett is Born
Pioneer journalist and civil rights leader Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born on this day in 1862. Born into slavery in Mississippi, she became a teacher and newspaper editor, writing on the horrors of the Jim Crow South. After the death of three friends, Wells became the leading voice of anti-lynching activism and shared her investigative findings through lectures, pamphlets, and books. Wells was a founding member of the NAACP and also launched the National Association of Colored Women. She dedicated her life to fighting injustice and continued her activism until she died in 1931.
1854 – Elizabeth Jennings Graham Stands Her Ground
On July 16, 1854, schoolteacher Elizabeth Jennings Graham was forcibly removed from a segregated streetcar in New York City. Graham, a prominent member of the Black New York community, wrote of her experience, and it soon gained national attention. She successfully sued the Third Avenue Railroad Company, and the company was ordered to desegregate its streetcars.
