Portrait of Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer is pictured here at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Hamer was a leader in the 1960s voting rights movement. Working in Mississippi, she helped organize the 1964 Freedom Summer, a movement to register African-American voters. After the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Hamer oversaw lawsuits to ensure eligible voters were not kept from the polls.