Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Creator Name

Sallie E. Garrity

Cultural Context

American; African American

Date

Creation: 19th century

Source

National Portrait Gallery;

Smithsonian Institution

About the Work

Curationist Object Description

Ida Bell Wells was a noted activist for the civil rights of African Americans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She made headlines after her 1884 lawsuit against the Chesapeake, Ohio and Southwestern Railroad. Wells made great strides in her work for desegregation, anti-lynching, and voting rights throughout her life. Wells married activist Ferdinand L. Barnett in 1895 and both campaigned for social justice in their hometown of Chicago, Illinois, as well as nationally and internationally.

She was a member of the National Association of Colored Women, the National Afro-American Council, and the Niagara Movement. She also was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

National Portrait Gallery Object Description

In 1884, the journalist Ida B. Wells filed a lawsuit against the Chesapeake, Ohio and Southwestern Railroad after being forcibly removed from the ladies’ train car because she was black. Wells, who had been traveling from Memphis to the nearby town of Woodstock, won the trial in Shelby County but lost the appeal at the Tennessee Supreme Court. After this, she focused on advocating for the civil rights of African Americans—including suffrage.

In 1913, at the suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., she famously refused to march in the back with the other African American women. Instead, she marched at the front of the Illinois suffrage delega- tion. Her gumption distinguished her. Among the most famous black authors of the late nineteenth ...

Work details

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Title

Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Creator

Sallie E. Garrity (link to bio), Photographer

Sallie E. Garrity, c. 1862 - 1907, Artist;
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, 16 Jul 1862 - 25 Mar 1931, Sitter

Worktype

Cabinet card

Photograph; Photographs

Cultural Context

American; African American

Material

Medium: Paper

Albumen silver print

Dimensions

Image/Sheet: 13.9 x 9.8 cm (5 1/2 x 3 7/8");
Mount: 16.3 x 10.7 cm (6 7/16 x 4 3/16");
Mat: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14")

Technique

Albumen process

Language

Date

Creation: 19th century

1880s, 1890s;
Date: c. 1893

Provenance

Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Style Period

Rights

CC0

Inscription

Location

North America; United States; Illinois; Cook; Chicago

Source

National Portrait Gallery;

Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery

Subjects

Descriptive Topic: African Americans, Portrait, Woman, Black people, Studio portrait

Photographic format\Cabinet card; Ida Bell Wells-Barnett: Female; Ida Bell Wells-Barnett: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer; Ida Bell Wells-Barnett: Arts and Culture\Journalism and Media\Journalist; Ida Bell Wells-Barnett: Arts and Culture\Journalism and Media\Editor; Ida Bell Wells-Barnett: Arts and Culture\Education and Scholarship\Educator\Teacher; Ida Bell Wells-Barnett: Social Welfare and Reform\Reformer\Social reformer\Civil rights activist; Ida Bell Wells-Barnett: Law and Crime\Enslaved person; Portrait; Women; Social Welfare and Reform; Arts and Culture; Literature; Writers; Portraits; Educators; Reformers; Civil rights activist; Social reformer; Editors; Cabinet card; Journalism; Photographic format; Education and Scholarship; Law and Crime; Journalism and Media; Enslaved person

Topic

Curationist Contributors

Christina Stone; Jessica Gengler

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