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1862 – On July 16, Ida B. Wells was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi by slave parents James and Elizabeth.

 1878 – Ida’s parents died in the Yellow Fever epidemic, which left her to take care of her younger siblings.

 1883 – At age 16 Ida moved to Memphis to take her 1^st teaching job in Shelby County.

 1884 – Ida’s lifelong devotion to fighting injustice began when she sued the Chesapeake Railroad for discrimination and won $500 in damages.

 1887 – The Supreme Court of Tennessee reversed the Chesapeake Railroad case decision.  Ida began writing for a church paper, using the story of her suit against the railroad.    Ida then became a co-editor for the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight.

1892 – Ida wrote about three innocent Black grocery store owners who were lynched in Memphis.  One of them, Thomas Moss, was a good friend of hers.  This incident began her lynching crusade.  This editorial banished her from Memphis and she went into exile.

1893 – She began touring and launched her international anti-lynching campaign in England, Scotland and Wales telling them about the evils of lynching.

1893 – Ida wrote an 81 page booklet:  The Reason Why the Colored American is not in the World’s Columbian Exposition – The Afro – American’s Contribution to Columbian Literature.  This was to expose the discriminatory exclusion of Black achievement from the Columbian World Exposition hosted in Chicago.

1894 – Ida took a 2^nd journey through England and organized the anti-lynching committee.

1894 – She decided to reside in Chicago, Illinois after lecturing in England.

1895 – Ida published A Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynchings in the United States.  This was a detailed history and statistics of lynching of Negroes - 1892, 1893 and 1894.

1895 – She married Ferdinand L. Barnett, a prominent Chicago attorney and founder of the Chicago Conservator, the city’s 1^st African American newspaper.

1896 – Ida created the National Association of Colored Women.

1900 – She wrote Mob Rule in New Orleans: Robert Charles and His Fight to Death, the Story of His Life, Burning Human Beings Alive, Other Lynching Statistics.

1910 – Ida established and funded the Negro Fellowship League.

1913 – The 1^st Suffrage Club for Black women “Alpha Suffrage Club” was established by Ida.

1928 – Ida began writing her autobiography “Crusade for Justice”, because not much had been written about her life.  This autobiography went unfinished until her daughter, Alfreda Duster, edited it in 1970.

1931 – On March 25, Ida B. Wells-Barnett died in Chicago.

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