International Women's Day: Honoring Ida B. Wells
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's International Women's Day!
We want to take a look back at some of the women who made history with Chicago ties. Today we focus on Ida B. Wells.
"She grew up in the south and her work against lynching and to bring attention to this issue led to her having such sinister death threats that she relocated to Chicago but she continued her activism here. Not just on anti-lynching, but also to promote education and economic opportunity," said Julie Wroblewski, Director of Collections at the Chicago History Museum.
Wells also became heavily involved in the women's suffrage movement.
"Because she recognized that not including Black women in the right to vote was fundamentally creating an unequal, and unjust society and she called out the traditional mainstream white women's suffrage movement for not being more inclusive."
To sum up her work and beliefs, Ida B. Wells said:
"With no sacredness of the ballot, there can be no sacredness of human life itself."
Thanks to the Chicago History Museum for helping educate us on this International Women's Day.