She attended a segregated Black school and became a teacher in Memphis, Tennessee, until she was fired in 1891 for speaking out against subpar learning conditions. A staunch activist, Wells similarly filed and initially won a lawsuit against the Chesapeake, Ohio & Southwestern Railroad Co. in 1884 after being forced out of a first-class train car despite having purchased a first-class ticket. The ruling was eventually overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court and spurred the beginning ...

Read More