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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Ida B. Wells, a trailblazing 19th century journalist and civil rights icon, was awarded a posthumous special citation by the board of the Pulitzer Prizes on Monday.
The trail-blazing African American woman was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi in 1862. She made a name in Memphis with her investigative journalism and her legal challenge to Jim Crow laws.
Wells began exposing the practice of lynching in the 1890s after some of her friends were killed by rival white businessmen. Some historians believe her efforts led to the practice being discredited in the United States, according to the University of Memphis.
The Pulitzer honor comes with a donation of at least $50,000 in support of Wells’ mission.
