HR0770 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0770 LRB097 20113 KXB 65492 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Ida B. Wells was a seminal figure in Post-Reconstruction America and one of the great pioneering activists for civil rights for African-Americans long before the Civil Rights Movement, as it has come to be known in history; her achievements have not received the attention they deserve as she was a fierce activist for both African-Americans and women, challenging traditional power structures as well as leadership within activist movements, and as a journalist reporting first-hand and publicizing the widespread atrocity of lynching; and

WHEREAS, Ida B. Wells was born into slavery on July 16, 1862, in Holly Springs, Mississippi, 6 months before President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation; her parents, Jim and Elizabeth, taught her the value of education and of speaking her mind; she was orphaned at 16 and left college to become a teacher to care for her 5 remaining siblings and keep them together; and

WHEREAS, At a time when black teachers made $30 per month and white teachers made $80 per month, Ida B. Wells moved to Memphis, Tennessee, embarking on a career as a journalist and civil rights activist; in September 1883, she preceded Rosa Parks' historic bus ride by 72 years, refusing to give up her seat on a train car and being forcibly removed at the age of 21; and

WHEREAS, Ida B. Wells stepped outside the traditional roles of a woman and of an African-American at the turn of the century by speaking out about unsavory topics; she is considered to be the single most powerful leader in the anti-lynching campaign in America; and

WHEREAS, Ida B. Wells became the editor and owner of her own newspaper, and when her newspaper office was destroyed in an angry response to her outspoken writings, she was exiled from Memphis and stayed away from the South for over 30 years, moving to New York and then Chicago; in 1893 and 1894, she traveled across the United States and throughout the United Kingdom, passionately writing and speaking out against lynching; and

WHEREAS, Between 1880 and 1930, approximately 3,220 black Americans were reported lynched, with many hundreds more unreported African-Americans killed and whites as well; following Wells' campaigns, legislation against lynching was enacted in parts of the South and the numbers of lynchings went down, from a peak of 235 in 1892 to 107 by 1899; and

WHEREAS, In 1895, Ida B. Wells married Ferdinand L. Barnett, an attorney and owner of The Conservator, one of Chicago's black newspapers; he and Ida had 4 children together; and she continued her activism while juggling motherhood and her many civil rights commitments; and

WHEREAS, Ida B. Wells was one of the founders of several organizations, including the NAACP, the Negro Fellowship League to assist black men and boys who were excluded from the YMCA, and the Alpha Suffrage Club, an organization of black women who worked to obtain the right to vote; she assisted the National Association of Colored Women and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and served as the secretary of the African-American Press Association; she worked with Susan B. Anthony as a leader in the movement for women's suffrage and with Jane Addams in Chicago to prevent the establishment of segregated public schools; and even within these organizations, she challenged contemporary leaders who advocated for appeasement and accommodation in favor of uncompromising confrontational actions; and

WHEREAS, In 1918, Ida B. Wells covered race riots and lynchings in East St. Louis and in Arkansas; In 1928, she began writing her autobiography, fearing future generations would never hear the truth of the injustices that were happening at the time; in 1930, out of frustration with the slow movement of rights for African-Americans and the stalemate of the 2 parties in government, Ida B. Wells became the first African-American woman to run for the Illinois State Senate; and

WHEREAS, Ida B. Wells passed away after a sudden illness on March 25, 1931 at the age of 68; her husband passed the following year, and they are interred together in Chicago's Oak Woods Cemetery; in 1940, she was honored by having the first public housing development for African-Americans in Chicago, The Ida B. Wells Homes, named after her, which stood for over 60 years; and

WHEREAS, Ida B. Wells' tireless work and great dedication to the civil rights movement is deserving of the greatest honor; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate the date of March 25, 2012 as Ida B. Wells Day in the State of Illinois in honor of Ida B. Wells and her great work with the civil rights movement; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Michelle Duster, great-granddaughter of Ida B. Wells for efforts to protect her legacy.