Fannie Lou Hamer was a galvanizing force of the Civil Rights movement, using her voice to advance voting rights and representation for Black Americans throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Faced with eviction, arrests, and abuse at the hands of white doctors, policemen, and others, Hamer stayed true to her faith and her conviction in non-violent progress. She helped found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, ran for Congress, and was one of the first three Black women in American history to be seated on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. Hamer dedicated herself fully as a grassroots organizer of the Civil Rights movement, inspiring countless activists and pushing progress forward. This is her story.
1945-1961: Home and family
Fannie Lou struggled with fertility issues and suffered several miscarriages and stillbirths. She and Pap adopted two little girls, Dorothy and Vergie. Ella, blind and unable to walk, moved in their home, too. Hamer complained to friends and fellow cotton pickers about the racism and discrimination that denied her access to fair wages, the right to vote, justice, and equality. In 1961, a local white doctor sterilized Fannie Lou without her consent, ending her dream of having her own babies. Image: Heather Booth playing guitar for Fannie Lou Hamer during the Freedom Summer Project in Mississippi, 1964. Photo credit: Wallace Roberts. Permission to use granted by Heather Booth. Copyright 2012. CC BY SA.
Images are from Walk with Me, except where otherwise noted and linked.
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