MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mid-Southerners honored Ida B. Wells Thursday with a pilgrimage to the site where three black men were lynched in 1892. Wells, their friend and journalist, documented the deaths for the world.
The pilgrimage is part of the first Ida B. Wells celebration week.
Wells started documenting lynchings across the U.S. after the deaths of Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart. However, that didn't sit well with white leaders in Memphis, and her office was destroyed - forcing her to relocate to Chicago.
Leaders laid a wreath at the lynching site Thursday morning and then went to the Zion Community Cemetery in South Memphis to lay a wreath on Moss' grave.
Thursday night, leaders are hosting a workshop based on an MLK sermon - how to stay awake in the midst of a revolution – at 6 p.m. Lindenwood Christian Church.
Friday is the big day, with a birthday parade at 9 a.m. downtown, the unveiling of the first life-size Ida b. Wells statue, and an award presentation.