Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Her parents were slaves when Wells was born and died from yellow fever when she was 14. By 1891 Wells was an outspoken, young free woman. That year she helped found the newspaper Memphis Free Speech and began to publish articles denouncing the outbreak of lynchings in the South. Wells's influence grew to the point where she was no longer safe living in Memphis, and so she moved to Chicago in 1892. There she continued to work tirelessly to promote civil rights and women's suffrage. Wells became one of the original founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.