Ida B. Wells Award
The Ida B. Wells Award
The Ida B. Wells Award is named in honor of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a newspaper editor and journalist who led the American anti-lynching crusade, and founded the Negro Fellowship League in 1910.
First awarded in 2001, the MBWA presented the Ida B. Wells Award during each anniversary year to recognize a Black woman attorney who has made significant contributions to the legal profession and exemplifies the pioneering spirit and courage of Ida B. Wells. As of 2011, the MBWA bestows this prestigious award each year among others to recognize the accomplishments of Black women attorneys.
About Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a newspaper editor and journalist who went on to lead the American anti-lynching crusade. Wells-Barnett was born a daughter of slaves in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Despite this adversity, she managed to attend Rust College and Fisk University. She later taught segregated public schools in Memphis, Tennessee, and wrote articles for and eventually became the editor of Free Speech, a Black newspaper. In 1891, the Memphis Board of Education fired her due to claims her articles were too controversial.
Wells-Barnett was strong-willed and spirited. Once she was forcibly removed from her seat for refusing to move to a “colored car” on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. Her suit against the Railway for violating her civil rights was rejected by the Tennessee Supreme Court. This event and the legal struggle which followed it encouraged Wells-Barnett to continue to oppose racial injustice toward African Americans.
Wells-Barnett wrote for the Conservator, published a book-length exposé of lynching (The Red Record, 1895), and organized women regarding several causes, from anti-lynching to suffrage.
She served as secretary of the National Afro-American Council, and in 1910 she founded and became the first president of the Negro Fellowship League. She attended the 1909 meeting of the Niagara Movement, a conference which led to the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys was initially named the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Law Society in honor of Ms. Wells-Barnett’s vision, leadership and courage.
Meet the 2023 Honorees

Stesha A. Emmanuel
Stesha A. Emmanuel is a Partner at McCarter & English LLP and specializes in product liability, pharmaceutical matters and employment law.
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Hannah L. Kilson
Hannah L. Kilson concentrates her practice on real estate transactions in the area of affordable housing and community development.
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Past Honorees
2022
Angela Gomes

2022
Macken Toussaint

2021
Pia Flangan

2021
Giselle Joffre

2019
Dawn Perry

2019
Desiree Ralls- Morrison

2018
Karen Morton

2018
Tanisha M. Sullivan

2017
Karla L. Jarvis

2017
E. Abim Thomas

2016
Yalonda T. Howze

2016
Tracey L. McCain

2015
Robin Walker

2015
Darly David
