Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells (Negro American Biographies and Autobiographies)
Towards the end of her life, realizing that her work was already becoming forgotten history, Ida B. Wells wrote the massive, unfinished memoirs that formCrusade for Justice. An outspoken and determined woman with seemingly limitless energy, Ida B. Wells began her crusade against the oppression of black people in 1884, when, at the age of sixteen, she sued the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad for evicting her from a first class car. A teacher and journalist, she began a one-woman anti-lynching campaign after a close friend was murdered. She traveled throughout England and later in the United States gaining support; got married; began the first clubs for black women in the US; started a reading room, shelter, and employment service for black men in Chicago; investigated race riots; and had six children. Her children and husband (she refers to him as "Mr. Barnett") remain almost invisible in this book, but whatCrusade for Justicelacks in domestic detail, it makes up for in personal opinion. Ida B. Wells was a forthright woman who worked with many famous leaders of the early twentieth century, and she does not hesitate either to blast her opponents or to praise those who earn her respect - including President Wilson, Booker T. Washington, Susan B. Anthony, and Frederick Douglass. Her history is packed with facts not often taught in schools and filled with the fervor of a woman who spent her life proving that one person can and must make a difference.-- For great reviews of books for girls, check outLet's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. --From500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister