To Keep the Waters Troubled: The Life of Ida B. Wells [Paperback]

Linda O. McMurry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 14, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0195139275 | ISBN-13: 978-0195139273

In the generation that followed Frederick Douglass, no African American was more prominent, or more outspoken, than Ida B. Wells. Seriously considered as a rival to W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington for race leadership, Wells' career began amidst controversy when she sued a Tennessee railroad company for ousting her from a first class car, a legal battle which launched her lifelong commitment to journalism and activism. In the 1890s, Wells focused her eloquence on the horrors of lynching, exposing it as a widespread form of racial terrorism. Backing strong words with strong actions, she lectured in the States and abroad, arranged legal representation for black prisoners, hired investigators, founded anti-lynching leagues, sought recourse from Congress, and more. Wells was an equally forceful advocate for women's rights, but parted ways with feminist allies who would subordinate racial justice to their cause. Using diary entries, letters, and published writings, McMurry illuminates Wells's fiery personality, and the uncompromising approach that sometimes lost her friendships even as it won great victories. To Keep the Waters Troubled is an unforgettable account of a remarkable woman and the and the times she helped to change.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Frederick Douglass died in 1895, writes Linda O. McMurry, Ida B. Wells "was his logical heir apparent; they had collaborated closely on several projects. She was better known than W.E.B. DuBois and more ideologically compatible with Douglass than Booker T. Washington"--but it was considered too belittling to black "manhood" to have a woman leading African American politics.

Wells first rose to prominence when she wrote about her lawsuit against a railroad company that had kicked her out of a first-class seat. Throughout the 1890s, she crusaded vigorously against the rise of lynching as a tactic used by whites to intimidate the newly freed black populace. She also worked closely with the suffragist movement, but broke with white feminists who preferred to downplay or ignore ethnic dimensions to social justice. The woman who emerges from McMurry's intricately detailed biography, drawn extensively from Wells's own writings, is a fierce social advocate who easily serves as a role model for modern activists. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

North Carolina State University history professor McMurry manages to make the attractive and dynamic figure of Ida B. Wells sound dull. Born in Mississippi at the height of the Civil War, Wells attained a level of success remarkable for black women of her time. When her parents died during a yellow fever epidemic in 1878, the 16-year-old Wells took over the rearing of her six younger siblings, supporting them by teaching elementary school. She attended Rust College, where her father, politically active during Reconstruction, had been a member of the board, and burst on the public scene with her 1883 court challenge to racial segregation on trains. Spurred by a post-Reconstruction increase in violence against blacks, Wells had already begun to submit editorials for publication in black newspapers when a close friend was lynched in 1889. She then transformed her outrage into a fierce determination to articulate the oppression of African Americans and became a speaker much in demand at black churches, journalists' conferences and feminist gatherings in the U.S. and England. Feminists such as Susan B. Anthony urged Wells not to marry and to concentrate instead on "real" work. She ignored their advice, but neither marriage nor motherhood slowed her down as she continued to campaign for federal legislation against lynching until her death in 1931. Unfortunately, McMurray offers little to a reader that isn't available?in better prose?in Wells's autobiography, Crusade for Justice. Additionally, McMurray muddles her portrait by judging the past by the standards of the present and by succumbing to the temptation to psychoanalyze Wells.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 14, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195139275
• ISBN-13: 978-0195139273
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,203,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book deftly describes a great woman in difficult times., July 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: To Keep the Waters Troubled: The Life of Ida B. Wells (Hardcover)

This book is interesting and easy to read, but hard to take. Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a complex person: incredibly smart, brave and strong, but at the same time, prickly and ultra sensative.The book also puts America's current racial and gender problems into perspective, showing us that we haven't come very far from the late 19th century's attitudes toward and treatment of African-Americans and women. This book is a must-read for anyone who cares about a great American or wants to face and learn more about America's shameful history. That said, the author's style makes it easy to read. Amazingly enough for a scholarly biography, I would often find myself reading late into the night because I couldn't put it down.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy treatise about a magnificent American, June 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: To Keep the Waters Troubled: The Life of Ida B. Wells (Hardcover)

McMurray's biography of Ida B. Wells-Barnett is a rare triumph. Wells-Barnett was a courageous American whose valor is depicted in full color. All too frequently, when there is a discussion of the impact of race, there is a mistaken assumption that black males comprise the affected population. Similarly, when gender is raised as an issue, the false assumption is that white women are the only ones to be affected. Wells-Barnett was an American woman of African descent who fought the societally-mandated strictures of race and sex until her death. I am emboldened by her deeds since too many of the same strictures still exist. I applaud McMurray for her scholarship in this biography's portrayal of the life of Wells-Barnett. This book is definitely recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent history not only of Wells, but of the times., May 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: To Keep the Waters Troubled: The Life of Ida B. Wells (Hardcover)

I came away from this book with new respect for Wells, and her courage. I was overwhelmed with sadness after reading some of the details of the lynchings and the effect on the survivors. The book contains an excellent analysis of the real reason for many lynchings:economic competition.