Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was an African American journalist and active member of the civil rights movement. Initially born into slavery, she gained her freedom due to the Emancipation Proclamation. As a teenager, her family was ravaged by yellow fever, which claimed her mother, father and brother. Wells began supporting herself as a teacher, and eventually a journalist for a local newspaper. She often highlighted racial injustice with features such as Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases. Due to her commitment to race and gender equality, Wells received multiple awards including a posthumous Pulitzer Prize.

A riveting examination of racial violence in America that occurred in the late-1800s. The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States, by Ida B. Wells, is an exemplary investigative report that details a wave of brutal murders plaguing African Americans, particularly in the South.