Letter from Ida B. Wells-Barnett to President Woodrow Wilson
4/26/1918
Add to Favorites:
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett was born into slavery on July 16, 1862, and freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. She held a career as an educator and later a journalist chronicling the African American experience in the early 1800s. Her work on documenting the lynching practices and horrors of the south attained a global audience despite being labeled as a race agitator in the United States.
In 1892, Wells became the part-owner of the Black-owned newspaper The Memphis Free Speech. Her writing sparked much criticism and anger in the south. A white mob ransacked the Free Speech office, destroying the building and its contents.
Ida B. Wells also used her writing to appeal to the highest levels of government to address racial injustice. In 1918, on behalf of the Negro Fellowship League, Wells wrote to President Woodrow Wilson calling out an order from a General in Kansas that restricted the movement of soldiers based on their color.
She asked Wilson to revoke General Ballou's Bulletin Number 35 for the 92nd Division, Camp Funston, Kansas. The order urged officers and soldiers to refrain from going into public places where their presence was resented because of color. She charged that the order "destroys all civil rights, causes fresh discriminations, fosters race prejudice, humiliates our race, and degrades the army uniform."
This letter uses the term "negro" to refer to Black people, which was commonly accepted in that era, but is outdated and inappropriate today.
In 1892, Wells became the part-owner of the Black-owned newspaper The Memphis Free Speech. Her writing sparked much criticism and anger in the south. A white mob ransacked the Free Speech office, destroying the building and its contents.
Ida B. Wells also used her writing to appeal to the highest levels of government to address racial injustice. In 1918, on behalf of the Negro Fellowship League, Wells wrote to President Woodrow Wilson calling out an order from a General in Kansas that restricted the movement of soldiers based on their color.
She asked Wilson to revoke General Ballou's Bulletin Number 35 for the 92nd Division, Camp Funston, Kansas. The order urged officers and soldiers to refrain from going into public places where their presence was resented because of color. She charged that the order "destroys all civil rights, causes fresh discriminations, fosters race prejudice, humiliates our race, and degrades the army uniform."
This letter uses the term "negro" to refer to Black people, which was commonly accepted in that era, but is outdated and inappropriate today.
This primary source comes from the Records of the American Expeditionary Forces (World War I).
National Archives Identifier: 7455575
Full Citation: Letter from Ida B. Wells-Barnett to President Woodrow Wilson Protesting General Ballou's Bulletin Number 35 for the 92nd Division, Camp Funston, Kansas; 4/26/1918; 322.9 92nd Division; Records of Divisions, 1917 - 1920; Records of the American Expeditionary Forces (World War I), Record Group 120; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/ida-b-wells-wilson, March 17, 2025]Activities that use this document
- African American Soldiers and Civil Rights During WWI
Created by the National Archives Education Team
Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
