Chicago unveils Ida B Wells monument in Bronzeville

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago unveiled a monument to honor civil rights icon Ida B. Wells Wednesday.

The sculpture is called "Light of Truth" and was created by Richard Hunt.

Wells was born into slavery. She became a prominent activist against segregation and lynching and she was one of the founders of the NAACP.

The monument is located at the former Ida B. Wells Housing Project in Bronzeville.

The statue was commissioned by the Ida B. Wells Commemorative Committee. It took the group several years to meet the $300,000 fundraising goal, which coincided with other efforts to honor her, including the renaming of Congress Parkway in 2019.

Her family said one thing definitely leads to another, pointing to the renaming of Lake Shore Drive after Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, a Black trader and first non-native settler of Chicago.

"We're a very multicultural city and I think that the public structures and public tributes should reflect who we are as city and as a nation," said Michelle Duster, Ida B. Wells' great granddaughter.

Wells spent a large part of her life working in Chicago as an investigative reporter covering racial injustice.

In a speech she once said, "the way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them," giving rise to the name of the sculpture.