Crusade for justice : the autobiography of Ida B. Wells

467 Pages·23.255 MB·English

by  Ida B. Wells, Alfreda M. Duster

Crusade for Justice
NEGRO AMERICAN
BIOGRAPHIES AND
AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
John Hope Franklin / Series Editor
Crusade for Justice
The Autobiography of
IDA B. WE L L S
Edited by At Duster
freda~.
The University of Chicago Press
CHICAGO AND LONDON
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 1970 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 1970
Printed in the United States of America
ISB~-13:978-0-226-89344-0
ISB~-10: 0-226-89344-8
LC~: 73-108837
17 16 15 14 13 12 II 10 09 13 14 15 16 17
<§ The paper used in this publication meets the
minimum requirements of the American
~ational Standard for Information Sciences
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z3948-1992.
CONTENTS
EDITOR'S FORE"WORD IX
INTRODUCTION xii i
PREFACE 3
I Born into Slavery 7
2 Hard Beginnings IS
3 New Opportunities 2 I
4 lola 29
5 The "Free Speech" Days 35
6 Lynching at the Curve 47
7 Leaving Memphis Behind 53
8 At the Hands of a Mob 6 I
9 To Tell the Truth Freely 69
[v]
CONTENTS
10 The Homesick Exile 77
I I Light from the Human Torch 8 3
I Z Through England and Scotland 87
13 Breaking the Silent Indifference 95
14 An Indiscreet Letter 103
15 Final Days in London 107
16 "To the Seeker of Truth" 5
I I
17 "Inter-Ocean" Letters I Z 5
18 In Liverpool 133
19 In Manchester 143
zo In Bristol 5 3
I
Newcastle Notes 6
ZI I I
zz Memories of London
IJI
Z3 "You Can't Change the Record" I 8 I
24 Last Days in Britain 189
25 A Regrettable Interview Z 0 I
z6 Remembering English Friends Z 3
I
z7 Susan B. Anthony Z 2 5
z8 Ungentlemanly and Unchristian Z33
z9 Satin and Orange Blossoms z39
30 A Divided Duty 247
3 I Again in the Public Eye Z 5 7
3Z New Projects z69
33 Club Life and Politics 219
34 A Negro Theater 289
[ vi]
Contents
35 Negro Fellowship League 297
36 Illinois Lynchings 30 9
37 NAACP 3 2 1
38 Steve Green and "Chicken Joe" Campbell 3 3 5
39 Seeking the Negro Vote 345
40 Protest to the Governor 355
41 World War I and the Negro Soldiers 367
42 The Equal Rights League 375
43 East Saint Louis Riot 383
44 Arkansas Riot 397
45 The Tide of Hatred 40 5
46 The Price of Liberty 415
BIBLIOGRAPHY 42 1
INDEX 425
[v i i]

ED ITO R'S FOREWORD
F
OR MORE THAN FORTY YEARS IDA B. WELLS WAS ONE OF THE
most fearless and one of the most respected women in the
United States. She was also one of the most articulate. Few de
fects in American society escaped her notice and her outrage.
Among the things she fought were the racial discrimination at
the Columbian Exposition in 1893, disfranchisement based on
race, discrimination in employment, and segregation on public
carriers. She was one of the first persons to bring legal action
against a railroad because of discrimination. She was perhaps the
first person to recite the horrors of lynching in lurid detail. By
the written and spoken word she laid bare the barbarism and
inhumanity of the rope and faggot. Through her visits she be
came nearly as well known in England as she was in the United
States, for she was determined that the entire world should
know her native land for what it really was.
[i x]