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Ida B. Wells
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Ida B. Wells Ida B. Wells-Barnett Ida B. Wells quarter Cover page of Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases by Ida B. Wells, 1892, featuring a portrait of Wells and publication details on a worn, brown page. Cover page of A Red Record by Ida B. Wells, featuring the title and subtitle about lynchings in the United States, with publication details and a dedication. Remembering Wells Commemorating Ida B. Wells On This Day: July 16 Black and white portrait of Ida B. Wells, American journalist and reformer, shown from the shoulders up in formal dress with lace details and an elaborate hairstyle.
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Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells Born into slavery and orphaned as a teenager, Ida B. Wells, shown here about 1893, would become one of the most influential writers and thinkers on race and gender in the United States.

Ida B. Wells

American journalist and social reformer
Also known as: Ida Bell Wells, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, Iola
Written by
Tracy Grant
Tracy Grant is a senior editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica. She previously served as editor in chief, the first woman to hold that title. 
Tracy Grant
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
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•History

Born into slavery, Ida B. Wells would in her lifetime become the most famous Black woman in the United States for her meticulous, data-driven reporting that exposed the systematic killing of Black men in the American South in the 1890s. In doing so, she would set standards for both investigative journalism and civil rights activism that were decades ahead of their time and are still used today. Ida B. Wells: A Life Ida Bell Wells...

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