Fannie Lou Hamer (/ ˈ h eɪ m ər /; née Townsend; October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977) was an American voting and women's rights activist, community organizer, and a leader in the civil rights movement.

Fannie Lou Townsend Hamer rose from humble beginnings in the Mississippi Delta to become one of the most important, passionate, and powerful voices of the civil and voting rights movements and a leader in the efforts for greater economic opportunities for African Americans.

Jan 6, 2025 · Fannie Lou Hamer was an African American civil rights activist, cofounder (in 1964), and vice-chairperson of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), which was established as an alternative to the all-white Mississippi Democratic Party.

Nov 9, 2009 · Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) was a civil rights activist whose passionate depiction of her own suffering in a racist society helped focus attention on the plight of African Americans...

Apr 2, 2014 · Fannie Lou Hamer was an African American civil rights activist who led voting drives and co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

Born on October 6, 1917, the youngest of 20 children, legendary community organizer and civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer (née Townsend) grew up in the racial oppression and terror of post-Reconstruction Mississippi.

Oct 3, 2024 · Learn about Fannie Lou Hamer, a voting rights activist whose vision for an inclusive political future laid the groundwork for the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Mar 24, 2018 · Fannie Lou Hamer was a grass-roots civil rights activist whose life exemplified resistance in rural Mississippi to oppressive conditions. Born on October 6, 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi, to a family of sharecroppers, she was the youngest of Lou Ella and Jim Townsend’s twenty children.

4 days ago · EDITOR’S NOTE: In honor of Black History Month, we’re sharing information about the lives of some of the African-American people and groups who have made an impact in American history. Fannie Lou Hamer was born Fannie Lou Townsend on Oct. 6, 1917, in Montgomery County, Mississippi, the youngest ...

Jan 4, 2025 · Doris Hamer Richardson will accept the award on behalf of Hamer’s family and her cousin, Monica Land, who was unable to attend the ceremony. Land produced the award-winning film “Fannie Lou Hamer’s America” that aired on PBS and WORLD Channel in February 2022.