Chicago Remembers Suffragist Badass Ida B. Wells On Election Day

By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 8, 2016 9:49PM

Large crowds streamed into Mount Hope Cemetery, in Rochester N.Y., throughout Tuesday to visit the grave of the nation’s most famous women’s suffrage leader, Susan B. Anthony. The gravestone regularly attracts strong numbers, but today was different for an obvious, historic reason, with the first female nominee of a major political party is on the ballot for president. I voted stickers covered the memorial, and the park even had to extend its hours to accommodate the pilgrimage.

A beautiful gesture, Chicago responded, but remember the comparatively unsung female pioneers, specifically Ida B. Wells.

Wells’ name began trending on Twitter in Chicago early Tuesday afternoon not long after news of the Anthony site visits spread.

Wells, as users were quick to point out, is a complete and irrefutable badass, most famous for calling bullshit on the pervasive lynching-as-law-and-order mentality while she worked as a journalist and editor in the 1890s, and standing up to the suffrage movement's own racist tendencies.

Users urged voters to visit Wells' grave and leave thank you's, either in person or digitally.

You can read more about Wells' legendary work here, and be sure to leave a note or testimonial here—after you vote.