“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”
— Ida B. Wells
“Long before Rose Parks chose to remain seated on the bus, Ida B. Wells did likewise in a train car. Both women challenged the same unjust system.
“In 1884, Wells was asked by the conductor of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company to move from her first-class car seat — for which she had a ticket — to the Jim Crow section of the train. She refused, and she was subsequently forcibly removed. Under the Civil Rights Act of 1875, Wells filed and won a lawsuit against the company. Although she was awarded a settlement, not surprisingly, the verdict was appealed and reversed by the Tennessee Supreme Court.”
