Black Memphians Heed Wells' Call, Leave City in Mass Migration

Following Ida B. Wells' editorial calling Black Memphians to leave a city that won't protect them, thousands of Black residents depart for Oklahoma and other destinations. White Memphis business owners — who depended on Black customers — beg Black leaders to stop the exodus. The streetcar company's revenue drops sharply. The economic leverage demonstrated by the migration is one of the earliest large-scale examples of Black economic boycott as a civil rights tool.