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Did Ida B. Wells found the Alpha Suffrage Club in 1913

Question asked:

“In 1913, Ida B. Wells founded the Alpha Suffrage Club, the first Black women's suffrage organization in Illinois.”
True
Confidence: High Checked on October 6, 2026

Summary

Ida B. Wells founded the Alpha Suffrage Club in Chicago in 1913. It was the first organization for Black women’s suffrage in Illinois (and is recognized as the earliest such Black women’s suffrage club in the state).

Sources 60 searched

nps.gov
loc.gov
pbs.org
  • The March Of 1913 | History Detectives | PBS

    But was the march such a positive experience for everyone concerned? Ida Bell Wells-Barnett was an outspoken, African American journalist, famous for leading an anti-lynching campaign at the turn of the century. Ida Bell Wells-Barnett founded the Alpha Suffrage Club in January 1913.

iit.edu
lib.uchicago.edu
  • Civil Rights and Women's Organizations - A Voice for Justice - The University of Chicago Library

    According to a March 8, 1913 article published in The Chicago Defender, “the women of the South…tried to regulate [Ida B. Wells-Barnett] to the “Jim Crow” section of the procession, but she refused and a few of her loyal friends supported her.” She would not be sidelined by white feminist organizations, which often prioritized progress for white women- and the demands of racist leaders over a move to universal suffrage for women. That same year, Wells also founded the Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago, the first African American women's suffrage organization in the United States.

info.umkc.edu
en.wikipedia.org
  • Alpha Suffrage Club - Wikipedia

    Lynching was also common and they ... false claims. This fueled the movement founded by Ida B. Wells-Barnett. Wells declared that an inherent problem to black women was that they were overall less invested in gaining the vote because the men and churches of their communities had not supported it. Once they did receive the right to vote, "nobody had attempted to instruct them in voting". The Alpha Suffrage Club attempted ...

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