Wells’ father, James Wells, became a trustee of Shaw College (now Rust College).

 

Ida Bell Wells-Barnett 

(July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931)

After emancipation, Wells’ father, James Wells, became a trustee of Shaw College (now Rust College). 

He refused to vote for Democratic candidates during the period of Reconstruction, became a member of the Loyal League, and was known as a "race man" for his involvement in politics and his commitment to the Republican Party.^[5] 

He founded a successful carpentry business in Holly Springs in 1867, and his wife Lizzie became known as a "famous cook".^[7]
 
Ida B. Wells was one of the eight children, and she enrolled in the historically black liberal arts college Rust College in Holly Springs (formerly Shaw College). 

In September 1878, tragedy struck the Wells family when both of her parents died during a yellow fever epidemic that also claimed a sibling.^[8] 

Wells had been visiting her grandmother's farm near Holly Springs at the time, and was spared.