06/19/2026
On Juneteenth, we recognize Ida B. Wells-Barnett: investigative journalist, anti-lynching activist, and one of the most consequential reporters in American history. Her work is a reminder of what journalism, done with courage, can do.
Here are some fast facts about her life and legacy:
1. Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born into slavery in Holly Springs, Miss., in 1862. In 1865, she and her parents were emancipated through the Emancipation Proclamation.
2. Wells-Barnett's investigative career began after her close friend Thomas Moss was lynched alongside Calvin McDowell and Henry Steward. They were the owners of the People's Grocery store in Memphis and were killed because their business outperformed a neighboring white grocer's. She investigated the incident and reported her findings in the Memphis Free Speech, exposing inconsistencies in the official narrative and documenting Memphis's racial prejudice. In response, a white mob burned the Free Speech office to the ground. Wells-Barnett was forced to leave Memphis.
3. When her parents died in the yellow fever epidemic of 1878, Wells-Barnett became the primary caretaker for her six siblings at just 16-years-old. She took a job as a schoolteacher to support her family. In 1890, she used that platform to expose the poor conditions of Memphis public schools. She was fired for it. That dismissal launched her full-time journalism career.
