MEMPHIS, Tenn.– Memphis icon Ida B. Wells has been added to Barbie’s list of role models.
Mattel released a doll modeled after the civil rights leader on January 17 as part of Barbie’s Inspiring Women Series. The collection features inspiring female role models that have paved the way in women’s history and continue to inspire young women today including Rosa Parks, Helen Keller, Maya Angelou, and Susan B. Anthony with Wells being the newest addition.
You can purchase the dolls at Target or on the Matte Creations website.
Born as a slave in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Wells was an outspoken civil rights journalist and activist who co-owned and edited the Memphis Free Speech, a black-owned newspaper that was founded inside First Baptist Beale Street Church in 1888.
She lived and worked in Memphis, fighting against racism, segregation, and lynching. She was also an advocate for women’s suffrage.
Wells co-founded the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs in 1896 and co-founded the NAACP in 1909.
The doll features Wells wearing a traditional blue dress with lace details and holding a copy of the Memphis Free Speech.
Congressman Steve Cohen made a statement about the doll’s release saying:
“Ida B. Wells has been immortalized by Barbie with the Memphis Free Speech in her hands. The newspaper played an important role in her anti-lynching campaign, and just this week Memphis named a street in her honor alongside her recently erected statue.”
Earlier this week, the Memphis City Council voted to rename Fourth Street after Wells. In July 2021, a statue was unveiled in her honor in downtown Memphis.