Places
The Fannie Lou Hamer Cancer Foundation
What the Fannie Lou Hamer Cancer Foundation is, why it carries her name, the screening and outreach it does in the Delta, and its headquarters in Ruleville.
In short
The Fannie Lou Hamer Cancer Foundation is a nonprofit in Ruleville, Mississippi, founded in 2004 by Ruleville native Freddie White-Johnson to promote cancer awareness, prevention and screening in the Mississippi Delta. It is named for Hamer, who died of breast cancer complications in 1977. Mississippi Public Broadcasting has reported its door-to-door outreach, free mammograms and help with basic needs, and local news outlets have followed construction of its headquarters in Ruleville.
- Founded
- 2004, Ruleville, Mississippi
- Founder
- Freddie White-Johnson
- Focus
- Cancer awareness, prevention and screening in the Delta
- Services reported
- Outreach and education, free mammograms, help with transportation and bills
- Headquarters
- Building in Ruleville, under construction in 2024
Why a cancer foundation in Hamer's name?
Fannie Lou Hamer was diagnosed with breast cancer in the mid-1970s and died in 1977 at 59, and the Delta still has high cancer death rates. Mississippi Public Broadcasting reported in 2016 that Freddie White-Johnson started the foundation in 2004, after her father died of lung cancer in 1977 and asked her to come home and help people in the Delta get care. She told MPB she named it for Hamer because Hamer was from Ruleville and was known nationally.
What does the foundation do?
According to MPB, it does cancer education and outreach, often door to door, and helps women get free mammograms. The 2016 report described one-on-one education about breast, cervical, colon and prostate cancer, more than 650 free mammograms for women aged 40 to 64 in the previous year, and help with transportation, utility bills and basic needs for patients. The report described Black women in the Delta dying of cancer at higher rates than white women.
What is happening with its building?
The foundation has been building a 10,000-square-foot headquarters in Ruleville, at Floyce Street and Mississippi Highway 8. The University of Southern Mississippi announced the groundbreaking for October 31, 2019, and described a project of about $2.5 million built in phases. The same announcement said the foundation had provided free mammograms and Pap tests to more than 5,000 women and prostate screenings to 1,200 men since 2012. WDAM and Delta News reported on construction progress in 2024. Delta News said the building would house cancer education and help residents get care closer to home. We could not confirm an opening date, so check with the foundation for current status.
Why is this page called cancer_foundation.html?
An earlier site on this domain had a placeholder page at this address. We kept the address and describe the foundation here neutrally from published reports. We have no connection to it and do not collect money for it or anyone else.
Questions readers ask
Why is the foundation named after Fannie Lou Hamer?
Its founder told Mississippi Public Broadcasting that she chose the name because Hamer came from the same town and was known nationally. Hamer died of complications of breast cancer, hypertension and diabetes in 1977.
Is this site part of the Cancer Foundation?
No. We are an independent educational site and do not collect donations for any organization. Contact the foundation directly through its own channels.
Sources
- A foundation named after Fannie Lou Hamer is fighting cancer door to doorMississippi Public Broadcasting, February 25, 2016
- Fannie Lou Hamer honored at Democratic National Convention and with Ruleville cancer center nameWDAM, October 3, 2024
- Construction progress on Fannie Lou Hamer Cancer CenterDelta News (WXVT)
- Fannie Lou Hamer Cancer Foundation to host groundbreaking for headquarters in RulevilleUniversity of Southern Mississippi News, 2019
- Fannie Lou HamerMississippi Encyclopedia (cause of death)
We checked every date and name on this page against the sources above. If you find an error, write to contact@fannielouhamer.info.
Continue in the archive
- PlacesCenters in her nameCommunity and campus centers that carry Fannie Lou Hamer's name, from a grassroots cultural center in Ruleville to the Black Resource Center at UC Berkeley.
- PlacesThe Hamer InstituteWhat the Fannie Lou Hamer National Institute on Citizenship and Democracy is, how it began in 1997 and how it became part of Jackson State University.
- PlacesRuleville guideA visitor's guide to Ruleville and Sunflower County, Mississippi, with the Hamer sites, Freedom Trail markers, distances, and the history behind them.
- Her lifeFull biographyThe full life of Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977), from Sunflower County cotton fields to SNCC, the Freedom Democrats, Atlantic City and the Freedom Farm.