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]