Teach & remember
Teach and remember
A free lesson plan, reading lists, honors and awards named for Fannie Lou Hamer, commemorations, a calendar of key dates and dated news notes.
This part of the archive is for teachers, students, librarians and anyone planning an event. You will find a complete lesson plan for grades 6 to 12 built on primary sources, a calendar of anniversaries, the honors and awards named for Hamer, and a list of reputable places to keep reading.
Everything here is free to use in a classroom. We only ask that you link back to the page you used.
Teaching and memory pages
- Teach & rememberFree lesson planA free lesson plan for grades 6 to 12 built on Fannie Lou Hamer's 1964 testimony and other primary sources, with objectives, steps, questions and a rubric.
- Teach & rememberTrusted sourcesA curated list of reputable archives, encyclopedias, museums, recordings and books for researching Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi freedom movement.
- Teach & rememberHamer and educationHow Fannie Lou Hamer's own short schooling shaped her work for citizenship classes, Freedom Schools, Head Start centers and school desegregation in Sunflower County.
- Teach & rememberCommemorationsHow Fannie Lou Hamer is commemorated, from birthday gatherings at her Ruleville grave to the 2017 centennial, Freedom Trail markers and 2024 anniversaries.
- Teach & rememberCalendar of datesAnniversaries from Fannie Lou Hamer's life and the Mississippi movement, month by month, for teachers, libraries and anyone planning a commemoration.
- Teach & rememberBooks and filmsA reading and viewing list on Fannie Lou Hamer: biographies, her collected speeches, children's books, the 2022 documentary, plays and music made in her honor.
- Teach & rememberAwards in her nameAwards that carry Fannie Lou Hamer's name, from Maryland's Fannie Lou Hamer Awards to honors given by Black women's and political science organizations.
- Teach & rememberHer honorsThe honorary degrees, awards and national recognitions Fannie Lou Hamer received during her lifetime and the major honors given after her death, through 2025.
- Teach & rememberGuide for organizersPractical advice for schools, churches and groups planning a Fannie Lou Hamer event: checking quotes, dates and photos, crediting sources and respecting Ruleville.
- Teach & rememberNewsDated, sourced news about Fannie Lou Hamer honors and commemorations from 2024 to 2026, including the Medal of Freedom, new markers and birthday events.
- Teach & rememberJune Jordan's 1972 bookAbout the 1972 children's biography Fannie Lou Hamer by poet June Jordan, one of the first books about Hamer, written in her lifetime, and how to use it today.
Continue in the archive
- Teach & rememberFree lesson planA free lesson plan for grades 6 to 12 built on Fannie Lou Hamer's 1964 testimony and other primary sources, with objectives, steps, questions and a rubric.
- Teach & rememberTrusted sourcesA curated list of reputable archives, encyclopedias, museums, recordings and books for researching Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi freedom movement.
- Teach & rememberHamer and educationHow Fannie Lou Hamer's own short schooling shaped her work for citizenship classes, Freedom Schools, Head Start centers and school desegregation in Sunflower County.
- Teach & rememberCommemorationsHow Fannie Lou Hamer is commemorated, from birthday gatherings at her Ruleville grave to the 2017 centennial, Freedom Trail markers and 2024 anniversaries.