Description

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The acclaimed civil rights leader Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) is brought vividly to life in this accessible and well-researched biography. Wells was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and she helped black women win the right to vote. But what she is most remembered for is the success of her lifelong crusade against the practice of lynching--called by some "our nation's crime"--in the American South. She fought her battle by writing and publishing countless newspaper articles and by speaking around the world. Her outspokenness put her in grave danger many times over, but she would not be silenced, and today she is credited with ending lynching in the United States. Her story is one of courage and determination in the face of intolerance and injustice. AFTERWORD, BIBLIOGRAPHY, INDEX.

About the Author

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Judith Bloom Fradin collaborated with her husband, Dennis Brindell Fradin, on several award-winning books for young readers, including Ida B. Wells: Mother of the Civil Rights Movement and Fight On!: Mary Church Terrell's Battle for Integration. She lives in Evanston, Illinois.

Praise For…

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"a stellar biography. The Fradin's compelling book is one that most libraries will want." --SLJ, Starred School Library Journal, Starred

Celebrated as the "Queen of the Black Race" and "The Princess of the Press," Ida B. Wells is best known for her turn-of-the-century anti-lynching crusade. Her biting editorials and inspired speeches against vigilantism inflamed Southern readers, brought public attention to a "crime against humanity," and rallied supporters. Ahead of her time in her aggressively nonconciliatory approach, she was also spurned by less militant Afican-American leaders of her day and avoided as a troublemaker. The Fradins recount Wells' fight for racial equality, her encounters with the day's personalities (Frederick Douglas confessed that "while he disapprvoved of lynching . . . he had assumed that the victims were guilty and weren't worth the time and effort of saving") and her extraordinary accomplishments: civil rights activist, journalist, editor, founding member of the NAACP, suffragist, political candidate, Chicago's first female probabtions officer, and still more. The portrait is well rounded, showing that the fearless and uncomprimising activist was also an overbearing mother and a blunt and undiplomatic individual.("I cannot or do not make friends. . . . My temper has always been my besetting sin"). Clearly captioned black and white illustrations, historical documents, and facsimiles are generoulsy interspersed, and students will welcome the insightful author's note, useful bibliography, and extensive index.
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Celebrated as the "Queen of the Black Race" and "The Princess of the Press," Ida B. Wells is best known for her turn-of-the-century anti-lynching crusade. Her biting editorials and inspired speeches against vigilantism inflamed Southern readers, brought public attention to a "crime against humanity," and rallied supporters. Ahead of her time in her aggressively nonconciliatory approach, she was also spurned by less militant African-American leaders of her day and avoided as a troublemaker. The Fradins recount Wells' fight for racial equality, her encounters with the day's personalities (Frederick Douglas confessed that "while he disapproved of lynching . . . he had assumed that the victims were guilty and weren't worth the time and effort of saving") and her extraordinary accomplishments: civil rights activist, journalist, editor, founding member of the NAACP, suffragist, political candidate, Chicago's first female probations officer, and still more. The portrait is well rounded, showing that the fearless and uncompromising activist was also an overbearing mother and a blunt and undiplomatic individual.("I cannot or do not make friends. . . . My temper has always been my besetting sin"). Clearly captioned black and white illustrations, historical documents, and facsimiles are generously interspersed, and students will welcome the insightful author's note, useful bibliography, and extensive index." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Starred

"Near the end of her life, Ida B. Wells-Barnett was smuggled into a prison to meet with 12 sharecroppers who had been consigned to death row for trying to organize; instead of offering comfort, she tartly told them to stop singing spirituals and start hoping for freedom here on Earth. In the Fradins’ view, that was Wells all over: an outspoken journalist who never softened or compromised and who lashed at blacks and whites with equal fervor at any sign of accommodation to racial inequity. . . . She is chiefly remembered, however, for her long crusade against lynching, sparked by the violent death of a Memphis acquaintance. After reading the Fradins’ brutal, explicit accounts of several lynchings and race riots, and seeing the horrifying photos that alternate with formal portraits of Wells’ family and prominent associates, it will be easy to underst —