jan 1, 1878 - Yellow Fever

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In 1878, Wells-Barnett went to visit her grandmother. While she was there Wells-Barnett was informed that a yellow fever epidemic had hit her hometown. The disease took both of Wells-Barnett’s parents and her infant brother. Left to raise her brothers and sister, she took a job as a teacher so that she could keep the family together. Eventually, Wells-Barnett moved her siblings to Memphis, Tennessee. There she continued to work as an educator.

While working as a teacher in Memphis, she began writing a column for The Living Way, a weekly newspaper, under the pen name “Iola.” Her writings for the newspaper on race injustices earned her a national reputation.

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