Ida B. WellsChapter 8 section 3Segregation and DiscriminationIda B. Wells was born in 1862. Both of Ida's parents were slaves who were freed at the end of the Civil War. When Ida was sixteen, both of her parents and her young brother died of yellow fever. Yellow Fever is a viral disease that swept the south. Ida had six brothers and sisters who's aunts and uncles wanted them to go live with them. When Ida found out, she decided to drop out of school to take care of her family. When Ida was working during the week, her grandmother stayed with her brothers and sisters.When Ida was 24, she was ordered to give up her seat on a Southwestern Railroad train. The train conductor wanted her to give up her seat for a white man, and go to a different train car which happened to already be overcrowded. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 had banned racial discrimination in public accommodations but railroad companies continued racial segregation to some extent. When she refused to give up her seat, two men dragged her out of it. This event occured 71 years before Rosa Parks'.
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