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Quick Facts
- NAME: Fannie Lou Hamer
- OCCUPATION: Civil Rights Activist, Philanthropist
- BIRTH DATE: October 06, 1917
- DEATH DATE: March 14, 1977
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Montgomery County, Mississippi
- PLACE OF DEATH: Mound Bayou, Mississippi
- Originally: Fannie Lou Townsend
Best Known For
Fannie Lou Hamer was a civil rights activists who helped African Americans register to vote and who cofounded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
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Play NowFannie Lou Hamer. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 07:16, May 21, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/fannie-lou-hamer-205625.
Fannie Lou Hamer. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/fannie-lou-hamer-205625 [Accessed 21 May 2013].
"Fannie Lou Hamer." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 21 2013, 07:16 http://www.biography.com/people/fannie-lou-hamer-205625.
"Fannie Lou Hamer," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/fannie-lou-hamer-205625 [accessed May 21, 2013].
"Fannie Lou Hamer," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/fannie-lou-hamer-205625 (accessed May 21, 2013).
Fannie Lou Hamer [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 21] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/fannie-lou-hamer-205625.
Fannie Lou Hamer, http://www.biography.com/people/fannie-lou-hamer-205625 (last visited May 21, 2013).
Fannie Lou Hamer. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/fannie-lou-hamer-205625. Accessed May 21, 2013.
Synopsis
Fannie Lou Hamer was born October 6, 1917, in Montgomery County, Mississippi. In 1944 she met civil rights activists who encouraged blacks to register to vote. She became active in helping. She also worked for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) which fought racial segregation and injustice in the South. In 1964, she helped found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
Quotes
"I am sick and tired of being sick and tired."
"Nobody's free until everybody's free."
Profile
Civil rights activist. Born Fannie Lou Townsend on October 6, 1917, in Montgomery County, Mississippi. The daughter of sharecroppers, Hamer began working the fields at an early age. Her family struggled financially, and often went hungry.
Married to Perry "Pap" Hamer in 1944, Fannie Lou continued to work hard just to get by. In the summer of 1962, however, she made a life-changing decision to attend a protest meeting. She met civil rights activists there who were there to encourage African Americans to register to vote. Hamer became active in helping with the voter registration efforts.
Hamer dedicated her life to the fight for civil rights, working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). This organization was comprised mostly of African American students who engaged in acts of civil disobedience to fight racial segregation and injustice in the South. These acts often were met with violent responses by angry whites. During the course of her activist career, Hamer was threatened, arrested, beaten, and shot at. But none of these things ever deterred her from her work.
In 1964, Hamer helped found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which was established in opposition to her state’s all-white delegation to that year's Democratic convention. She brought the civil rights struggle in Mississippi to the attention of the entire nation during a televised session at the convention. The next year, Hamer ran for Congress in Mississippi, but she was unsuccessful in her bid.
Along with her political activism, Hamer worked to help the poor and families in need in her Mississippi community. She also set up organizations to increase business opportunities for minorities and to provide childcare and other family services. Hamer died of cancer on March 14, 1977, in Mound Bayou, Mississippi.
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