By Kylan Elliott, 2025/2026 Power in Place Research Collaborator
The impact of Ida B. Wells can be seen far and wide, as she dedicated her life to the fight for universal suffrage and an end to racial inequality. But the city of Chicago was her home-base, and she has left an indelible mark on this community that lives on almost a century after her death. Wells moved to Chicago at the age of 31 after she had traveled abroad to give speeches against lynching. When she arrived in the city, she quickly cemented herself as a community organizer and staunch activist. One of the first things she did was work on the campaign of a woman named Lucy Flower, who was running for the trustee role at the University of Illinois. She won, and became the first woman in the state of Illinois to hold a statewide elective office, setting a precedent for countless women in the future to follow in her footsteps. 1913 was a pivotal year for Wells. This year she founded the Alpha Suffrage Club, which was an organization created for specifically uplifting black women in the sphere of politics. The ASC offered education for black people on civics and leadership skills and worked on campaigns for black politicians. There was an aldermanic primary in February of 1914, and the Alpha Suffrage Club worked tirelessly canvassing in the predominantly black wards of Chicago to get DePriest the votes he needed. As a result of Wells’ efforts, DePriest ended up becoming the first black alderman in the city, and women made up around a third of his votes. In 1929, DePriest was elected to the House of Representatives in Illinois' 1st District, becoming the first African American in the 21st century to be elected to Congress. The elections of DePriest showed that black people and women have the ability to become an extremely powerful force with their votes, and this held true in the 1916 Presidential Election. In previous years, the Alpha Suffrage Club did a tremendous amount of work lobbying the Springfield legislature to pass laws that moved Illinois closer to true universal suffrage. The Illinois Equal Suffrage Act was passed in 1913, an achievement that the efforts of Wells and the ASC greatly helped to realize. This Act allowed women in Illinois to vote for the President, as well as local officers. According to an article from the New York Times, over 800,000 women in Illinois cast their vote for President in the 1916 election. They tended to vote in favor of the more progressive Hughes, with Hughes Alliance associate Harriet E. Vittum stating that “Illinois women voters showed their way to the women of the country by giving Hughes a strong majority of their votes” (NYT). Not only did Wells have a big part to play in women obtaining the right to vote in Illinois, but she helped them utilize their voices effectively. The Alpha Suffrage Club along with its leadership training also helped black women register to vote and walked them through the voting process. Her efforts were greatly important to get black women a bigger voice in politics, and her later work helped them to utilize that voice effectively. Wells and the Alpha Suffrage Club paved the way to the Chicago we see today. In 2026, there are 20 black members of Chicago’s city council, and countless women’s organizations in the city. The legacy of Wells continues to shape the politics of Chicago, and the lives of all who have lived here.
References
Norwood, Arlisha. “Ida B. Wells-Barnett.” National Women’s History Museum, 2017, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ida-b-wells-barnett . Britannica Editors. “Lucy Louisa Coues Flower | American Philanthropist & Social Reformer.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 June 1999, www.britannica.com/biography/Lucy-Louisa-Coues-Flower. Accessed 21 Jan. 2026. Nettles, Arionne. “Ida B. Wells’ Lasting Impact on Chicago Politics and Power.” NPR, 4 Nov. 2019, www.npr.org/local/2019/11/04/775915510/ida-b-wells-lasting-impact-on-chicago-politics-and-power. “The Persistence of Ida B. Wells: Reform Leader and Civil Rights Activist | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.” Gilderlehrman.org, 2019, www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/persistence-ida-b-wells-reform-leader-and-civil-rights-activist. “Illinois Suffrage Act (1913).” Ilsos.gov, 2025, www.ilsos.gov/departments/archives/online-exhibits/100-documents/1913-il-suffarge-act.html. “Praise for Women Voters in Illinois.” New York Times, New York Times, 9 Nov. 1916, timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/11/09/104694343.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0. Rima Lunin Schultz, and Adele Hast. Women Building Chicago 1790-1990. 2001. “About Us – Chicago City Council Black Caucus.” Chicagoblackcaucus.com, 2026, chicagoblackcaucus.com/about-us/. Accessed 21 Jan. 2026.
Kylan Elliott is a sophomore at Loyola University Chicago studying Political Science, International Business, and Psychology. She is passionate about social justice, law, and music. After university, she hopes of going onto law school and pursuing a career in family law. In her free time, she enjoys going to concerts, reading, and exploring the city of Chicago.