Ida V. Wells

For the American civil rights activist, see Ida B. Wells.

Ida Viola Wells (February 12, 1878, Greenfield, Missouri – June 14, 1950, Alameda County, California) was an American lawyer.^[1]

Ida V. Wells
Born	Ida Viola Wells (1878-02-12)February 12, 1878 Greenfield, Missouri, U.S.
Died	June 14, 1950(1950-06-14) (aged 72) Alameda County, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	USC Gould School of Law (LLB)
Occupation	Lawyer
Spouse	Lloyd Stowell Shapley ​ ​ (m. 1943)​
Parent(s)	Harry Taylor Wells Ella Morella Bennett

Early life

Wells was born to Harry Taylor Wells (1853–1932), a dentist, and Ella Morella Wells (née Bennett; 1856–1939).^[2]

Career

Wells, in 1916, earned a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Southern California.^[3] She was an associate with Arthur Wilson Eckman (1885–1974) in the Walter P. Story Building in the Broadway Theater and Commercial Districts of Los Angeles. For a little over two years, beginning December 18, 1921, Wells was Assistant State Inheritance Tax Attorney for California.^[4][2] She resigned January 31, 1924, to take charge of the Women's Bureau of the Johnson-for-President Club of Southern California. She then went on to serve as Deputy City Prosecutor for Los Angeles from about 1927 to about 1939.^[5]

Affiliations

While studying law at USC, Wells was a member of Phi Delta Delta (USC's Alpha chapter), which, at the time, was the only women's professional law fraternity in the country.^[6] Wells went on to become the director of the Women Lawyers' Association. She was president of the Professional Women's Club.^[2] She was a member of the Women Lawyers' Club, Republican Study Club, Soroptimist Club, State and County Bar Association, Women's Political League.^[2]

Personal life

Wells moved to California in 1908 and lived at 1744 West 24th St., Los Angeles, California.^[2] Wells, in 1943 in Berkeley, California, married Lloyd Stowell Shapley (1875–1959) (his second of three marriages; her first), a naval captain who, among other things, served as the 23rd Naval Governor of Guam, from April 7, 1926, to June 11, 1929.^[7]

References

1. Wells 1978.
2. Binheim & Elvin 1928.
3. USC Commencement Program, June 8, 1916.
4. Los Angeles Times, December 18, 1921.
5. Los Angeles Times, June 3, 1927.
6. Los Angeles Sunday Times, March 26, 1916.
7. Berry 1993.

News media

• "Sorority Banquet". The Los Angeles Times. Vol. 35. March 26, 1916. Part 3, p. 6 (right column, bottom) & 8. Retrieved February 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
• "Gets Inheritance Tax Post". The Los Angeles Times. Vol. 41. December 18, 1921. Part 4, p. 14 (column 3, bottom). Retrieved February 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
• "Promotion Urged for Bullock – Woman Jurist Suggested for Superior Court Seat by Republic Veterans". The Los Angeles Times. Vol. 46. June 3, 1927. Part 2, p. 1 (column 4). Retrieved February 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com (the article lead relates to Georgia Bullock, who, in 1931, became the first female Superior Court judge in California; the article further states that Wells is Deputy City Prosecutor).{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)

Books

• Berry, Brian Joe Lobley (1993). "Lloyd Stowell Shapley". The Shapleigh, Shapley and Shappley Families: A Comprehensive Genealogy, 1635–1993. Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc. p. 273. LCCN 92-79843. OCLC 192111586. Retrieved July 21, 2014 – via Internet Archive.
• Binheim, Max; Elvin, Charles Arthur, eds. (1928). "California: Wells, Ida V.". Women of the West – a series of biographical sketches of living eminent women in the eleven Western States of the United States of America (1928 ed.). Los Angeles: Publishers Press. p. 93 . OCLC 866260441 (  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
• University of Southern California (June 8, 1916). "College of Law – Candidates for the Degree of Bachelor of Laws: Ida Viola Wells". Thirty Third Annual Commencement. p. 10. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
• Wells, H.S.G. (1978). A Wells Story: From Missouri to California [with] Horace T. and Amy Lee Wells. Sacramento, California: H.S.G. Wells (publisher). Retrieved February 12, 2021. OCLC 866461496, 20537405, 1048556012.