In 1895 Ida B. Wells documented the truth the country tried to bury. The Red Record continues her work, a living digital archive built by the community, one video at a time.
See the WallA family story. Local civil-rights history. A truth from your own town. Record a short video and become a Record Keeper, in the spirit of Wells — your name and video earn a lasting place on the Red Record Wall.
Leave Your Red Record Video »Every video added becomes part of a living, public archive, truth documented in her spirit and kept by the people. The wall is just beginning, add yours and be among the first.
The wall is open. Your video joins it after a quick review.
Ida B. Wells believed that a lie repeated becomes accepted, and that the only reliable weapon against it is the documented truth. She named her 1895 pamphlet The Red Record, and she filled it with names, dates, and evidence the powerful wanted forgotten.
We are building the modern version, together. The Red Record is a growing archive of first-hand testimony, family history, and local civil-rights history, contributed by the people who lived it and kept by the community that carries it forward. Not a monument behind glass. A living record, still being written.
The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them. Ida B. Wells, The Red Record, 1895
An elder's memory, a story passed down, the history your family carried that never made the headlines.
What happened in your own town, the march, the case, the person, so it is documented where it can't be erased.
An injustice you witnessed or lived, told in your own words, added to the record in the spirit of Wells.
Everyone who contributes becomes a Record Keeper, recognized on the Red Record wall. In partnership with HBCUs, local libraries, and community organizations, we host Red Record Nights, community gatherings that pair the work of Rise With Wells with oral-history collection, so the archive grows in person as well as online.
Every story added is a light turned on. That was her method, and now it is ours.
Your story belongs on the record. It takes about two minutes, and it lasts.
Leave Your Red Record Video »