Bronzeville Residents Want To Build Monument To Ida B. Wells

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Activists hoping to erect a monument to civil rights pioneer and suffragette Ida B. Wells have raised more than $2,400 through a crowdfuding effort, hoping to build a statue at the former public housing site that once bore her name.

The statue would be built in the Bronzeville neighborhood, where the Ida B. Wells Homes stood for more than 60 years, before the Chicago Housing Authority began tearing down the high-rise complex in 2002.

A crowdfunding campaign on Indeigogo has raised more than $2,400 as of Monday morning, with a goal of $100,000.

Sculptor Richard Hunt, who would create the monument, discussed his ideas for the project in a video posted on YouTube.

"I call this Ida's sampler, right?" he said. "You'll have a thing with different materials, and finishes."

Supporters said the civil rights activist, journalist, and suffragette would be the first woman to get a statue in a Chicago park. They plan to donate the statue to the city once it's complete.

Demolition of the Ida B. Wells Homes was completed in 2011, and mixed-income homes have replaced some of the former public housing complex. The Mariano's grocery store chain also has broken ground on a new store at the corner of King Drive and Pershing Road, where one of the Ida B. Wells buildings stood.

In:
• Nancy Harty