- What We Do
- What we defend
- Have your rights been violated?
  If you face retaliation over protected speech, reach out to FIRE to learn more about how we can protect your rights.
  Submit a Case
- Make a difference
- Subscribe to FIRE Updates
  Stay up to date with FIRE's biggest cases and battles for free expression.
  Subscribe
- Take Action
  Across the nation, free speech rights are under attack. Join us in defending this essential quality of liberty. Make your voice heard and join a campaign.
  Protect Free Speech
- Resources
- College Free Speech Rankings
  Presented by FIRE and College Pulse, the 2026 College Free Speech Rankings is the largest survey of campus free expression ever performed.
  Explore Rankings
- National Speech Index
  The National Speech Index tracks free speech sentiments in America. It is a quarterly survey component of America's Political Pulse from the Polarization Research Lab.
  Learn More
Colleges
News
Cases
Submit a Case
Newsletter

The Suffragist That Couldn't Be Silenced

Research & Learn

Through her detailed reporting on lynching after the Civil War, Wells did more than most to demonstrate the power of using one’s voice in the pursuit of truth and justice.

Collage showing a black and white photo of Ida B. Wells next to a shotgun and some of her publications.

Ida B. Wells: Journalist, activist, civil rights icon, and free speech hero

Civil Rights

In 1892, a mob destroyed a Memphis newspaper after it published an anti lynching editorial. Through death threats and violence, they tried to erase journalist Ida B. Wells’s message. Instead, they made her fight impossible to ignore. Threats followed her everywhere, but she refused to be silenced.

Share this selection via email