Henrietta Bell Wells (October 11, 1912 – February 27, 2008) was the first female member of the debate team at historically black

Wiley College Wiley College is a private historically black college in Marshall, Texas. Founded in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church's Bishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by the Freedman's Aid Society, it is one of the oldest predominantly black col ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. She was born Henrietta Pauline Bell on the banks of Buffalo Bayou in Houston, Texas to a

West India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of its western part. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative division includes the states of Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra along with the Unio ...

n single mother. During her year on the team, Wiley beat some of the top historically black colleges including

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

and

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

. They also made history by participating in the first college debate between white and

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

students in 1930 when they debated students from the Law School at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Despite the team's success, Ms. Bell was only able to participate on the debate team for one year because financial pressures forced her to work in order to continue her education. Bell married fellow Episcopalian Rev. Wallace L. Wells and went on to be a social worker and teacher in

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the sou ...

; Houston, Texas;

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, and

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. Their assignment in Gary, Indiana included the building of architecturally significant St. Augustine's Episcopal Church (Gary, Indiana). Mrs. Wells served as the Dean of Women at

Dillard University Dillard University is a private, historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 and incorporating earlier institutions founded as early as 1869 after the American Civil War, it is affiliated with the United Church of C ...

in New Orleans. She died 27 February 2008 in Baytown, Texas. The character Samantha Booke in the 2007 movie, ''

The Great Debaters ''The Great Debaters'' is a 2007 American biographical drama film directed by and starring Denzel Washington. It is based on an article written about the Wiley College debate team by Tony Scherman for the spring 1997 issue of ''American Legacy'' ...

'', played by

Jurnee Smollett Jurnee Diana Smollett (born October 1, 1986) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress appearing on television sitcoms, including '' On Our Own'' (1994–1995) and ''Full House'' (1992–1994). She gained greater recognition ...

, was loosely based on Wells. Wells stated that she had told Denzel Washington, who directed the film, to also play her team's coach,

Melvin B. Tolson Melvin Beaunorus Tolson (February 6, 1898 – August 29, 1966) was an American poet, educator, columnist, and politician. As a poet, he was influenced both by Modernism and the language and experiences of African Americans, and he was deeply inf ...

, in the film. Bell died on February 27, 2008, aged 95, and is buried in Paradise North Cemetery in Houston, Texas.

References

Sources

*Ihde, Carlton. "The Battle of Builders - Tradition Vs. Modern", ''Chicago Daily News'', November 10, 1956: 12. Print. *Dart, Susan. Edward Dart Architect. Evanston: Evanston Publishing, 1993. Print. . *Wells, Wallace L. "Prayerful and Militant", ''The Living Church'' 140.3 (1960): 12. Print. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Henrietta Bell 1912 births 2008 deaths American social workers Dillard University faculty Wiley College alumni People from Gary, Indiana People from Houston African-American Episcopalians 20th-century American Episcopalians 20th-century African-American people Competitive debaters