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This course uses the life of Ida B. Wells as a focal point for understanding Black history in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It will cover anti-lynching campaigns, the rise of Jim Crow, the history of early Black civil rights organizations and women’s clubs, the Great Migration, the African American experience during the World War I era, and the emergence of New Negro leadership. A member of emancipation’s first generation, Wells was born to enslaved parents during the Civil War, and survived a rough childhood to become a teacher, journalist, and trenchant social critic. Best known for her crusade against lynching, she was a social justice warrior whose long career as a civil rights activist illustrates the many challenges faced by African Americans during her lifetime.

COURSE CONTENT

• Twelve lectures
• Primary source readings to complement the lectures
• A certificate of completion for 15 hours of professional development credit

Readings: The suggested readings for each session will be listed in the “Resources” link on the course site. You are not required to read or purchase any print materials. The quizzes are based on the lectures.

Course Access: After your purchase, you may access your course by signing into the Gilder Lehrman website and clicking on the My Courses link, which can be found under My Account in the navigation menu.

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LEAD SCHOLAR: Mia Bay

Mia Bay is the Paul Mellon Professor of American History at the University of Cambridge. She is a scholar of American and African American intellectual, cultural, and social history whose recent interests include Black women’s thought, African American approaches to citizenship, and the history of race and transportation. She has authored or edited seven books, including the Bancroft Prize–winning Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance. Bay is also a frequent consultant on museum and documentary film projects. Her recent public history work includes working with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) on one of its inaugural exhibitions and serving as a scholarly advisor to the Library of Congress and NMAAHC’s Civil Rights History Project.