Ida B. Wells Marches for the Vote

Born in Mississippi just a few months shy of the Emancipation Proclamation, suffragist Ida B. Wells (1862–1931) experiences what is “not a perfect freedom”—growing up in a Black family denied the right to vote. After Wells’s father is fired for voting even after the 15th Amendment makes it legal, Johnson writes, Wells follows her parents’ example and “always tried to do the right thing.” She becomes a teacher to care for her surviving siblings after their parents’ deaths, decries the evils of lynching via newspaper articles, and organizes the alpha Suffrage Club, which sought to secure Black women the vote. Traveling to Washington, D.C., for a 1913 march to demand the right to vote for women, and relegated to the rear of the parade, Wells boldly winds her way to the front of the crowd, “marching, marching, marching for the vote.” Jordan’s stylized oil on cloth artwork gives a handmade feel to this account of one woman’s courageous acts. An author’s note concludes. Ages 5–9. (Jan.)