Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Before you read this blog post, know that I used to be a teacher. Well, I suppose I still am, given that I have children, I guess I’d better be a teacher. Now that the warning is out of the way, let me let you in on another secret: I don’t believe in history months. History is the past from which we all have emerged, and it is of dire importance all history is taught in its appropriate context. Teaching science? Don’t forget the contributions of all scientists, not just the “popular ones”. Dig deeper and learn something new.

2013 marked the 100th anniversary of the March, 1913 suffrage parade in Washington staged to coincide with Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. To To mark the occasion, many woman’s groups gathered in Washington to recreate this parade and celebrate how far women have come since the original march. Nice, right? Did you know the original organizers of the march wanted the black women to march in the back?

Let’s take a closer look, without the rose colored glasses. Woman’s suffrage was not for all women. The National American Woman’s Suffrage Association, in order to play nice with the southern women, requested that the black women march in the back of the parade rather than with their state delegations.

Mary Church Terrell, another leader of the black woman’s suffrage movement, agreed to “make nice”. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who once bit a train conductor who tried to forcibly remove her from a train car after she refused to leave the ladies’ car for a smoker car, refused. This was a woman who had written several pamphlets condemning the practice of lynching and lived with death threats. She was not going to pander to the wishes of a few white southern women.

Refusing to conform, she “hid out” until her delegation had passed, then surged into the group of white women – some hostile, some not – and took her rightful place in the Illinois group. According to the timeline on the site http://idabwells.org, her actions began the integration of the movement. She also had to be protected from the other women in the delegation who were, ah, slightly peeved that a Negro woman dared march among their ranks, after she had been explicitly told not to.

Now that’s bravery.

It is unfortunate that Mrs. Wells-Barnett isn’t a more prominent figure in history, especially in the context of women’s suffrage and the civil rights movement. Mind you, many of the websites that give biographies of Mrs. Wells-Barnett either gloss over the march, or don’t mention it at all. However, a bit of research can reveal how forward thinking and courageous this woman really was, to take on men (black and white) AND white women.

Check out the little story I wrote about the suffrage parade: http://dahliadewinters.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Sister-Suffragettes-2016.pdf

Further Reading:
Ida B. Wells: Civil Rights Activist
When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America
Ida B. Wells: Crusade for Justice
Ida B. Wells Memorial Foundation

Hello and happy Friday to everyone out there. March is National Woman’s History Month and since I am a woman, I wanted to take some time to take a look at some women who affected history.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett – I’m sure many of you have read my little ditties about Ms. Ida. In fact, my contribution to the HerStory anthology was a fictionalized version of what might have happened on the day that Mrs. Wells-Barnett was barred from marching with her Illinois delegation because the National American Woman Suffrage Association didn’t want to offend the “delicate” sensibilities of the Southern ladies. Despite the name “woman” in the association title, these Southern flowers threatened to pull out of the march if blacks marched alongside whites. She hid out until the Illinois delegation passed, then joined in.

Nannie Helen Burroughs – Black educator and suffrage supporter. She established industrial schools throughout the South where Black women could learn such skills as bookkeeping, sewing, home economics and typing. The goal of these schools was to give these women a skill that they could later use to become self-sufficient wage earners. Her motto? “We Specialize in the Wholly Impossible”.

Mary Church Terrell – Her father is referred to as the first black millionaire by multiple sources. Mary majored in the classics at Oberlin College and was elected to two of the college’s literary societies. She earned her master’s degree from Oberlin as well. She was the first president of the National Association of Colored Women and founded the National Association of University Women, which focused on educational initiatives for blacks. Interestingly enough, she and Ida B. Wells-Barnett were the only two black women invited to attend the first organizational meeting of the NAACP. Mrs. Church Terrell was also very active in the women’s suffrage movement.

I don’t claim that these are the only women that should be recognized during Women’s History Month. I chose these women because not only are they inspiring to me, they also either overcame extraordinary circumstances, worked under duress or used their privilege to better others.

I hope you will take a look at some of the women that inspired you. Post them in the comments!

Ida B. Wells – A Dangerous Woman

Women's History Month