People

People of the movement

Sourced profiles of Mississippi organizers who worked alongside Fannie Lou Hamer, including Amzie Moore, Annie Devine, Victoria Gray Adams and Lawrence Guyot.

By the FLH Info Editorial Team · Updated November 6, 2026 · 1 min read

Black-and-white photograph of the wooden Illinois Central depot at Ruleville in 1976 — The Illinois Central depot at Ruleville in 1976, from the Railroad Depot Postcard Collection of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Photo: Mississippi Department of Archives and History, No restrictions, via Mississippi Department of Archives and History via Wikimedia Commons.

No one in the Mississippi movement worked alone. Hamer was recruited by SNCC organizers who had been brought to the Delta by local leaders such as Amzie Moore. She was jailed with June Johnson, sat beside Annie Devine and Victoria Gray Adams in the 1965 challenge to Congress, and campaigned with Charles McLaurin.

Each profile below sticks to what is documented in archives, encyclopedias and newspapers, and lists its sources. We do not publish photographs of people. For living people we keep to their public work.

Profiles

PeopleAmzie MooreThe life of Amzie Moore of Cleveland, Mississippi, a postal worker, WWII veteran and NAACP leader who urged SNCC to organize voters in the Delta.
PeopleVictoria Gray AdamsThe life of Victoria Gray Adams of Hattiesburg: SNCC field secretary, Freedom Democratic Party founder, 1964 Senate candidate and 1965 congressional challenger.
PeopleAnnie DevineThe life of Annie Devine of Canton, Mississippi, a teacher and insurance agent who led the local movement, helped found the MFDP and challenged Congress in 1965.
PeopleUnita BlackwellThe life of Unita Blackwell of Mayersville, a SNCC field secretary and MFDP leader who in 1976 became the first Black woman elected mayor in Mississippi.
PeopleJune JohnsonThe life of June Johnson of Greenwood, who joined SNCC at 15, was beaten in the Winona jail with Fannie Lou Hamer in 1963, and later led voter and legal work.
PeopleClyde KennardThe life of Clyde Kennard, an Army veteran and farmer who tried to enroll at Mississippi Southern College, was framed for theft, and died of cancer after prison.
PeopleLawrence GuyotThe life of Lawrence Guyot of Pass Christian, a SNCC field secretary beaten in Winona in 1963 who chaired the Freedom Democratic Party and later practiced law.
PeopleCharles McLaurinA short, sourced profile of Charles McLaurin, the SNCC organizer who started the 1962 Sunflower County project and managed Hamer's 1964 campaign for Congress.
PeopleWomen of the movementFannie Lou Hamer was one of many women who led the Mississippi movement. Meet Annie Devine, Victoria Gray, Unita Blackwell, Ella Baker, June Johnson and others.
PeopleMaya AngelouThe documented civil rights work of poet Maya Angelou, from SCLC's New York office in 1960 to Ghana and the 1993 inauguration, and what links her to Hamer's era.
PeopleRev. Willie BlueA short, sourced profile of Rev. Willie Blue (1939-2022), a SNCC field secretary from 1963 and a Freedom Democratic Party delegate to Atlantic City in 1964.
PeopleMaegan Parker BrooksA short, sourced note on scholar Maegan Parker Brooks and her published work on Fannie Lou Hamer, from the 2011 collected speeches to the 2022 documentary.
PeoplePatricia Reid-MerrittA short, sourced note on Patricia Reid-Merritt, a Stockton University professor of social work and Africana studies, and her public role in the Hamer statue.
PeopleJulianne MalveauxA short, sourced note on economist Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College from 2007 to 2012 and founding dean of ethnic studies at Cal State LA.
PeopleMolefi Kete AsanteA short, sourced note on scholar Molefi Kete Asante, who created the first Ph.D. program in African American Studies at Temple University in 1988.
PeopleConrad WorrillA short, sourced profile of Conrad Worrill, a Northeastern Illinois University professor of Inner City Studies and a leader of the National Black United Front.
PeopleDr. Francine C. ChildsA short, sourced profile of Dr. Francine C. Childs, Ohio University's first tenured Black professor and a longtime teacher of African American Studies.

Continue in the archive

PeopleAmzie MooreThe life of Amzie Moore of Cleveland, Mississippi, a postal worker, WWII veteran and NAACP leader who urged SNCC to organize voters in the Delta.
PeopleVictoria Gray AdamsThe life of Victoria Gray Adams of Hattiesburg: SNCC field secretary, Freedom Democratic Party founder, 1964 Senate candidate and 1965 congressional challenger.
PeopleAnnie DevineThe life of Annie Devine of Canton, Mississippi, a teacher and insurance agent who led the local movement, helped found the MFDP and challenged Congress in 1965.
PeopleUnita BlackwellThe life of Unita Blackwell of Mayersville, a SNCC field secretary and MFDP leader who in 1976 became the first Black woman elected mayor in Mississippi.