Holly Springs in Marshall County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)
Ida B. Wells
Mississippi Writers Trail
Photographed by Mark Hilton, April 2, 2021
1. Ida B. Wells Marker
Inscription.
Ida B. Wells. . Born to slave parents in Holly Springs on July 16, 1862, Wells' life epitomized the freedom struggle for African Americans following the Civil War. When her parents and an infant brother died in the Yellow Fever outbreak of 1878, Wells raised her five remaining siblings. Despite these early hardships, she became a journalist and entrepreneur serving as co-owner of the Memphis, Tennessee, newspaper Free Speech. Her investigative style of journalism publicized the often unreported accounts of mob lynching in the South. Her books Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases and A Red Record exposed the subterfuges southerners employed for this type of murder of Black men. "Nobody in this section of the country believes the old threadbare lie that Negro men rape White women," Wells once wrote. She died March 25, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois.
Born to slave parents in Holly Springs on July 16, 1862, Wells' life
epitomized the freedom struggle for African Americans following the
Civil War. When her parents and an infant brother died in the Yellow
Fever outbreak of 1878, Wells raised her five remaining siblings.
Despite these early hardships, she became a journalist and entrepreneur
serving as co-owner of the Memphis, Tennessee, newspaper Free Speech. Her investigative style of journalism publicized the often unreported accounts of mob lynching in the South. Her books Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases and A Red Record exposed the subterfuges southerners employed for this type of murder of Black men. "Nobody in this section of the country believes the old threadbare lie that Negro men rape White women," Wells once wrote. She died March 25, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois.
Erected 2019 by Mississippi Writers Trail.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music. In addition, it is included in the Mississippi Writers Trail series list. A significant historical date for this entry is March 25, 1931.
Location. 34° 46.452′ N,
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89° 26.823′ W. Marker is in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in Marshall County. It is on Rust Avenue east of North Memphis Street (State Route 178), on the right when traveling east. Located at the David L. Beckley Conference Center, across the Rust College entrance. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 155 Rust Ave, Holly Springs MS 38635, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the North Mississippi Hills and in Greater Memphis. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Rust College (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); COFO & Rust College Civil Rights Monument (about 300 feet away); a different marker also named Rust College (approx. 0.2
Photographed by Mark Hilton, April 2, 2021
2. Ida B. Wells Marker at the David L. Beckley Conference Center.
From a cropped photograph by Mary Garrity from circa 1893.
Credits. This page was last revised on April 2, 2021. It was originally submitted on April 2, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 520 times since then and 51 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on April 2, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
