The 2025 Ida B. Wells Quarter

“The way to write wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” ~Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells was a fierce activist, an early leader in the civil rights movement, and a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She was a relentless reporter who researched and wrote about controversial issues of the time, highlighting the prejudice and discrimination faced by African Americans. She never wavered from doing what she knew was right, even in the face of danger.

Wells did not have an easy childhood. She was born into enslavement but freed when she was six months old, after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Her newly freed parents started a school, but both died of yellow fever when Wells was 18 years old. She worked as a teacher to provide for her siblings while they lived with her grandmother. Unfortunately, a year later, her grandmother died, and they all had to move to Memphis, Tennessee, to live with their aunt. In Memphis, Wells continued to work as a teacher at a segregated school. It was here that she began to develop strong political views.

In September 1883, Wells purchased a first-class railroad ticket to sit in the ladies' car. When she boarded the train, she was told she had to move to the overcrowded smoking car. She refused to move and was forcibly taken off the train. She sued the railroad company and won the case, but the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned the decision. This experience made her a passionate advocate, activist, and journalist. When she was dismissed from her teaching position after writing an article on the conditions Black students faced at segregated schools, she used it as an opportunity to throw herself into her writing. Wells used the pen name "Lola" to write for the Evening Star and the Living Way. She was also the editor and co-owner of the black owned newspaper, The Free Speech and Headlight.

In March 1892, there was an altercation at the grocery store owned by Wells' friend, Thomas Henry Moss, Sr. This incident led to Moss and two of his employees being arrested. Four days later, 75 masked men took the three from the jail and murdered them. This was a pivotal moment for Wells, who was heartbroken and outraged at the loss of her friends in such a horrific manner. She wrote an article urging Black families to leave Memphis because it wasn't safe, and she began to investigate and speak out against lynchings.

Wells launched her anti-lynching campaign through powerful speeches and articles written for The Free Speech and Headlight. Many of the stories she shared angered the white community in her town, but that never stopped her. One of these articles shared the story of the injustices a Black man endured who had been wrongfully accused of a heinous crime against a woman. This piece particularly enraged the white men in her town, and they wrote a horrific response article. Following this, the Free Speech and Headlight building was ransacked and destroyed. Wells had to flee Memphis for her safety.

Wells took refuge in New York, where she wrote for the New York Age. She did not let that terrifying experience deter her and continued her anti-lynching campaign. She had spent countless hours researching lynching and interviewing people who had been involved in these events. In 1892, she published her first pamphlet on the subject, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases. She shared that most lynched men had been falsely accused of violent crimes against women to cover up the real reason for their lynching: Black economic progress. She found that most white business owners saw successful Black-owned businesses as a threat, so they lied to make their problem go away. In 1895, she published her second pamphlet, The Red Record. Wells also began going on speaking tours, even going overseas to Britain twice to earn international support for her cause and increase her credibility and notoriety in the States.

Wells eventually moved to Chicago, where she continued her civil rights work and became heavily involved in the women's suffrage movement. She firmly believed that women deserved the right to vote and knew that it would give Black women the chance to help elect more Black individuals into seats of power. However, she often butted heads with the suffrage leaders of the time because many of them felt that white women's suffrage and Black women's suffrage were two different issues. Wells never hesitated to call out racist suffrage leaders, even when it hurt her own reputation within the movement.

When Wells showed up to the 1913 suffrage march down Washington, she was told she was not allowed to march with the rest of the Illinois delegates, many of whom she considered friends. Instead, she had to march in a delegation designated for Black marchers at the back of the line. Wells refused and stood on the street with the spectators instead. When the Illinois delegation passed, she joined them, linking arms with her friends, and continued the march, refusing to leave. Her actions demonstrated the universality of the women's civil rights movement and highlighted how racism and sexism often intersect in the lives of Black women.

Wells has been honored with countless awards for her dedication to civil rights. She has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and the Chicago Women's Hall of Fame. Her writing received a Pulitzer Prize special citation for outstanding and courageous reporting. Her story is also told in the hit Broadway show, Suffs.

The Ida B. Wells quarter design was discussed at the October 24, 2023, Citizens Coinage Advisory (CCAC) meeting. Wells' great-grandchildren, Michelle and Daniel Duster, were in attendance to share their thoughts on the design. They both said that this portrait was the best likeness of their great-grandmother and that her age on this quarter matched her age during her suffrage work. They both felt it was important for the inscription to read "Journalist, Suffragist, Civil Rights Activist," instead of "Journalism, Suffrage, Civil Rights." They wanted these words to describe Wells because they were a part of who she was. These weren't just causes she supported from afar; they were causes she was actively involved in.

The committee liked this design because they felt the portrait captures Wells' fierce determination and incredible strength. They liked how her hand rests against the rim of the coin because it represents how she spent her whole life pushing against barriers. There was also some discussion about whether the inscription should say "Civil Rights Activist" or just "Activist" to save space. They ultimately decided that keeping the words "Civil Rights" was important because that was the cause that was important to her.