The Life and Times of Ida B. Wells

Catalog description

This course explores the history of African Americans between 1865 and the 1930s by taking a close look at the life of antilynching crusader Ida B. Wells. A member emancipation’s first generation, Wells was born to enslaved parents during the Civil War, and survived a rough childhood to become a teacher, journalist and trenchant social critic. Most known for her crusade against lynching, she was a social justice warrior, whose long career as civil rights activist illustrates the many challenges faced by African Americans during her lifetime. This course uses Well’s life as a focal point for understanding not only antilynching, but also the rise of Jim Crow, the history of early black civil rights organizations and women’s clubs, the Great Migration, the African American experience during the World I era, and the emergence of New Negro leadership.