There are few historical figures whose life and work speak to the current moment more than Ida B. Wells, the 19th century investigative journalist, civil rights leader, and passionate suffragist. WKNO presents the WTTW’s production of Ida B. Wells: A Chicago Stories Special. It’s a program that tells her story as never before of the trailblazer, Ida B. Wells.

On a September day in 1883, 21-year-old Ida B. Wells boarded a train from Memphis to her teaching job in Shelby County, Tennessee. Sitting in the ladies’ car, Wells read her newspaper. When the conductor began collecting tickets, he told Wells that the car she was in was for white ladies only. After she refused, the conductor and another train employee removed Wells by force as white passengers cheered them on. But for Ida B. Wells, the fight didn’t stop there. If anything, that moment was just the beginning of a life devoted to the fight for justice.

WKNO

Fri, 7/16 at 8:00 PM

Sat, 7/17 at 1:00 AM

Sun, 7/18 at 4:00 PM

WKNO2

Fri, 7/16 at 8:00 PM

Sun, 7/18 at 8:00 PM

• Learn what Ida B. Wells accomplished

• Discover more about Ida B. Wells’ work, legacy,  life, and family

• Ida B Wells : The Advocate - American Experience

• Monument unveiled to activist, journalist Ida B. Wells in Chicago – PBS NewsHour

• Ida B. Wells in Brooklyn - THE GILDED AGE ARTICLE by American Experience

• The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow - Ida B. Wells: A Lifetime of Activism

• Reconstruction: Ida B. Wells - Pioneer of Civil Rights