On May 4, 1884, more than 70 years before Rosa Parks fueled the civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, 22-year-old Ida B. Wells-Barnett spurned a segregated train car to sit in the ladies' coach. In 1889 Wells' Living Way columns under the pen name Iola were nationally circulated in black newspapers. Wells insisted on coming on board at Free Speech and Headlight as an equal partner. She became editor and one-third owner of the paper while maintaining her job as a Memphis public school teacher. For two years, she operated on dual fronts without incident. The loss of her job allowed Wells to turn her full attention to journalism. She was already known in black circles throughout the country as "Princess of the Press" for her contributions to many of the nation's leading black newspapers.