Fannie Lou Hamer Notebook

Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) was born in Mississippi, the twentieth child of sharecroppers. She became a civil rights activist working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), vigilantly working to expand voter registration. She survived brutal treatment, from forced sterilization to a vicious beating after being arrested for sitting in a "whites only" section at a bus station restaurant. Hamer co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in 1964 in response to the Democratic Party's efforts to block Black participation. She worked tirelessly for civil rights, women's rights, and voters' rights.