Since its publication in 1892, The Reason Why the Colored American Is Not in the World's Columbian Exposition, a pamphlet written by journalist and activist Ida B. Wells, has remained an important contribution to our understanding of race relations at the close of the nineteenth century (figure 13). Wells, already well known among African Americans because of her tireless efforts to expose the injustices of lynching and its stain on American civilization, had included in her pamphlet a self-authored article as well as articles by Frederick Douglass, Irvine Garland Penn, and Ferdinand Lee Barnett, and made public comment on the exclusion of African Americans from the Columbian Exposition. In 1892 the Council of Administration refused to allow African Americans to take part in Exposition preparations. Although several projects were proposed free of charge by the Colored Men's Association, Exposition organizers would still not allow their equal participation. African Americans were originally not welcome to attend the event at all until the idea of a “Negro Day” or “Colored American Day” at the Exposition was approved. Wells adamantly opposed this solution because it could be seen as an excuse for continued disenfranchisement. Others, such as Douglass, saw Colored American Day as an opportunity to highlight African American achievement since emancipation.

Expositions prior to the Columbian Exposition of 1893 had excluded the participation of all women. For that year's event, however, Congress had specifically allowed for the national commission to name a white Board of Lady Managers at the Exposition.