Freedom Heroines by Frieda Wishinsky

Author:Frieda Wishinsky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2012-10-30T16:00:00+00:00

Memphis Reservoir, Tennessee

When Wells found a job outside of Memphis in a country school in Woodstock, she rode the train to work and studied for her licensing exam so she could teach in the city.

One day on the train, as usual, she sat down in the seats reserved for “ladies” in first class. But this time, the conductor demanded that she move to a car in the back of the train—the one for smokers and blacks. Wells refused. She’d paid for her seat. She was entitled to sit there! The conductor grabbed her by the hand and tried yanking her out of her seat. As soon as he touched her, Wells bit his hand. The stunned conductor stormed off for help and recruited three men to drag Wells out of her seat. As they pulled her, the sleeve of her linen coat ripped. Wells got off the train.

Although she had stood up for her rights, it was a humiliating and infuriating experience. Wells was so outraged that she hired a lawyer to sue the railroad. While she waited to hear back, she found a job teaching first grade in a Memphis school. Wells began to teach but realized that she didn’t enjoy teaching a large, rowdy, unmotivated class. And then she heard that the black lawyer she’d hired had been paid off by the railroad to prevent the case from going to court. She was hurt and angry and hired another lawyer. When the case was finally heard, Wells was awarded $500.

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