{"nrhp_refnum":"74000757","name":"Wells-Barnett, Ida B., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3624 S. Martin Luther King Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.82974881200005,"lon":-87.61755642399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-05-30","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1974-05-30","areas_of_significance":["Black","Politics/Government","Communications","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick and rock-faced granite residence at 3624 S. Martin Luther King Drive (formerly Grand Boulevard) in Chicago, built about 1889-90, where anti-lynching journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett lived from 1919 to 1929.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is significant for its association with Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a pioneering investigative journalist and activist who exposed lynching and campaigned for racial justice. It also notes the house as a good example of Romanesque Revival style with Queen Anne influence.","narrative":"This three-story residence at 3624 S. Martin Luther King Drive in Chicago, originally on Grand Boulevard, was built around 1889-90. Measuring about 28 by 60 feet, it has brick construction with a rock-faced granite front, heavy arched entry and windows, paired colonettes on the porch, and a two-story bay that reflects Queen Anne taste within a mainly Romanesque Revival design. It originally held 14 rooms, and the third floor was designed as a ballroom. Ida B. Wells-Barnett moved her family here in 1919 and raised four children in the house until 1929. Born a slave in Mississippi in 1862, she became a journalist who documented lynchings, published A Red Record in 1895, lectured in Britain, and helped organize the NAACP. She also founded the Alpha Suffrage Club and the Negro Fellowship League. The exterior remains largely original, though the interior has been divided for three families.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival with Queen Anne influence","criteria":[],"status_note":"Exterior described as original and in very good condition; interior altered to house three separate families, with the third-floor ballroom converted to an apartment.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.537289-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/58/8915/28891558/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/74000757_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000757/4eb6175ee4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000757/4eb6175ee4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"en:User:TonyTheTiger","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20070601_Wells_House_(2).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">en:User:TonyTheTiger</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20070601_Wells_House_(2).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891558","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_B._Wells-Barnett_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q980654"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/wells-barnett-ida-b-house-74000757/"}