Congress Parkway To Be Renamed After Ida B. Wells

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The vote passed through Chicago City Council to officially rename a section of Congress Parkway after Ida B. Wells.

The stretch of road will now be called Ida B. Wells Drive. The name change will start at South Columbus Drive and head east toward South Franklin Street.

Wells was a journalist and leader of the women's suffrage movement in the early 1900s. She exposed the horrors of lynching and helped found the NAACP.

"I've always felt my great grandmother needed to be honored in a way that was fitting to what she did, but I never imagined a major street," said Michelle Duster, Wells' great-granddaughter.

It is the first major street to be named after both a woman and a woman of color.

The name change will go into effect by August 25.