Ida B. Wells Publishes 'A Red Record'

Ida B. Wells published 'A Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynchings in the United States,' the first statistical study of lynching in American history, compiling data from 1892 to 1894. Using figures from white-owned newspapers to counter claims of bias, she documented 728 lynchings and systematically dismantled every justification offered for racial terror. The book became the definitive indictment of lynching and an essential document of American human rights advocacy.