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A Fannie Lou Hamer calendar: key dates through the year

Anniversaries from Fannie Lou Hamer's life and the Mississippi movement, month by month, for teachers, libraries and anyone planning a commemoration.

By the FLH Info Editorial Team · Updated · 2 min read

In short

The dates most often marked are her birthday, October 6 (1917); the day she tried to register, August 31 (1962); the Winona jail beating, June 9 (1963); her convention testimony, August 22 (1964); and her death, March 14 (1977). The Ruleville community and the Mississippi civil rights museums have held events around her birthday.

Two old metal water towers labeled Hot and Cold against a pale sky in Ruleville
Ruleville's "Hot" and "Cold" water towers, photographed in 2015. Photo: Magnolia677, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How to use this calendar

Each entry gives the date, the year and one line on what happened, with a link to the page that tells the full story. Teachers can use it to plan a lesson on the anniversary, and libraries and churches can use it to plan readings or displays. All dates come from the sources listed at the bottom of the page.

January

  • January 4, 1965: Capitol Police keep Hamer, Annie Devine and Victoria Gray out of the House chamber as the MFDP challenges Mississippi's congressmen. The challenge
  • January 4, 2025: President Joe Biden awards Hamer the Presidential Medal of Freedom, posthumously. Legacy
  • January 10, 1963: She passes the voter registration test on her third try. Biography

March

  • March 14, 1977: Hamer dies at the Taborian Hospital in Mound Bayou, at 59. Memorial garden

April

  • April 1964: The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party is founded. The MFDP

June

  • June 9, 1963: Arrested at the Winona bus station and beaten in the jail; released June 12. Winona
  • June 19: Juneteenth, the federal holiday marking the end of slavery in Texas in 1865. Juneteenth
  • June 1964: Freedom Summer volunteers arrive in Mississippi; the Hamer home in Ruleville hosts some of them. Freedom Summer

July

  • July 10, 1971: The National Women's Political Caucus is founded in Washington; Hamer is among its founders.
  • July 27, 2006: President George W. Bush signs the Voting Rights Act renewal that bears her name. Presidents

August

  • August 1962: SNCC holds a mass meeting at William Chapel in Ruleville. William Chapel
  • August 6, 1965: President Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act.
  • August 20, 2024: A Mississippi Freedom Trail marker honoring Hamer is unveiled on the Atlantic City boardwalk. News
  • August 22, 1964: Testimony before the Credentials Committee in Atlantic City. The testimony
  • August 31, 1962: The bus trip to the Indianola courthouse; evicted that night. Ruleville

September

  • September 1964: The SNCC delegation, Hamer included, travels to Guinea. Africa
  • September 10, 1962: Night riders shoot into Black homes in Ruleville.

October

  • October 5, 2012: The bronze statue by Brian Hanlon is dedicated in Ruleville. The statue
  • October 6, 1917: Fannie Lou Townsend is born in Montgomery County. Family
  • October 10, 2023: A cast of the statue is unveiled at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

December

  • December 1963: An all-white federal jury in Oxford acquits the Winona officers. Winona
  • December 20, 1964: Hamer speaks in Harlem; Malcolm X shares the platform.

Questions readers ask

When is Fannie Lou Hamer's birthday?

October 6. She was born on October 6, 1917. Ruleville has held birthday commemorations at her gravesite, and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum has marked the day with free admission in some years.

Is there a Fannie Lou Hamer Day?

Communities have held Fannie Lou Hamer Days, starting during her lifetime: Ruleville Central High School held one in 1970 and the town of Ruleville in 1976. There is no national holiday in her name.

Sources

  1. Fannie Lou HamerMississippi Encyclopedia
  2. Beatings in Winona jailSNCC Digital Gateway
  3. Free entry to museums marks civil rights icon Hamer's legacyMississippi Free Press, October 2021
  4. Fannie Lou Hamer honored at Democratic National Convention and with Ruleville cancer center nameWDAM, October 3, 2024
  5. The Mississippi Congressional ChallengeU.S. House Office of the Historian
  6. Fannie Lou HamerWikipedia (cross-check)

We checked every date and name on this page against the sources above. If you find an error, write to contact@fannielouhamer.info.

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