Ida B. Wells 1862-1931

Ida B. Wells 1862-1931 is a Tennessee historical marker in Shelby County.

Shelby Co, Memphis, Beale St. & Hernando

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Ida B. Wells crusaded against lynchings in Memphis and the South. In 1892 while editor of the Memphis Free Speech, located in this vicinity, she wrote of the lynching of three Black businessmen. As a result, her newspaper office was destroyed and her life threatened. After moving to New York, she began an international speaking tour where she influenced the establishment of the British Anti-Lynching Society. She cofounded the NAACP in America and organized the first Black women’s political organization. A Chicago housing project is named in her honor.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1886 · Arkansas. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1901 · Memphis. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1903 · Arkansas. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1916 · Memphis, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1925 · Memphis, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

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On the National Register nearby

Beale Street Historic District190 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.