07 / 50 · Freedom & civil rights

Ida B. Wells

United States · 1862–1931

Wells used investigative journalism to expose lynching and challenge the racist stories used to justify it. She gathered evidence, published findings and campaigned internationally despite threats against her.

She also organised for women’s suffrage while challenging racism within the movement. Her example connects the work of verification with the demand that institutions protect people equally.

“The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press.”

Southern Horrors (1892), excerpt.