Crusade for Justice : The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells (Negro American Biographies and Autobiographies)
Editorial Reviews
From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister
Towards the end of her life, realizing that her work was already becoming forgotten history, Ida B. Wells wrote the massive, unfinished memoirs that form Crusade for Justice. An outspoken and determined woman with seemingly limitless energy, Ida B. Wells began her crusade against the oppression of black people in 1884, when, at the age of sixteen, she sued the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad for evicting her from a first class car. A teacher and journalist, she began a one-woman anti-lynching campaign after a close friend was murdered. She traveled throughout England and later in the United States gaining support; got married; began the first clubs for black women in the US; started a reading room, shelter, and employment service for black men in Chicago; investigated race riots; and had six children. Her children and husband (she refers to him as "Mr. Barnett") remain almost invisible in this book, but what Crusade for Justice lacks in domestic detail, it makes up for in personal opinion. Ida B. Wells was a forthright woman who worked with many famous leaders of the early twentieth century, and she does not hesitate either to blast her opponents or to praise those who earn her respect - including President Wilson, Booker T. Washington, Susan B. Anthony, and Frederick Douglass. Her history is packed with facts not often taught in schools and filled with the fervor of a woman who spent her life proving that one person can and must make a difference. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.
Book Description
Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was one of the foremost crusaders against black oppression. This engaging memoir tells of her private life as mother of a growing family as well as her public activities as teacher, lecturer, and journalist in her fight against attitudes and laws oppressing blacks.
"No student of black history should overlook Crusade for Justice."--William M. Tuttle, Jr., Journal of American History
"Besides being the story of an incredibly courageous and outspoken black woman in the face of innumerable odds, the book is a valuable contribution to the social history of the United States and to the literature of the women's movement as well."--Elizabeth Kolmer, American Quarterly
"[Wells was] a sophisticated fighter whose prose was as though as her intellect."--Walter Goodman, New York Times
"An illuminating narrative of a zealous, race-conscious, civic- and church-minded black woman reformer, whose life story is a significant chapter in the history of Negro-White relations."--Thelma D. Perry, Negro History Bulletin
Alfreda M. Duster, who died in 1983, was the daughter of Ida B. Wells and Ferdinand L. Barnett, the first black state's attorney in Illinois.
Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells (Negro American Biographies and Autobiographies),Ida B. Wells,Alfreda M. Duster,University Of Chicago Press,0226893448,1862-1931,African American women civil r,African American women civil rights workers,Biography,Biography & Autobiography,Biography / Autobiography,Biography/Autobiography,Civil rights workers,General,United States,Wells-Barnett, Ida B.,,Biography & Autobiography / General
Books Report:
Recommended Books