Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer was a political activist from Montgomery County, Mississippi. She spent much of her time working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a group of students who worked together against the racial injustice in Mississippi. In 1964 she went on to form the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Hamer ran for Congress in 1965 but was not elected.

Fannie Lou Hamer was interviewed for the October 1971 issue of Essence magazine in an article titled “Fannie Lou Hamer Speaks Out” which featured images by Draper.

Click on the article images to enlarge

A few more Mississippi sharecropper images Draper made while visiting Civil Rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.