Fannie Lou Hamer Digital K-12 Curriculum Awarded $10k In Grants

JULY 8, 2022 – JACKSON, MS - A digital K-12 curriculum based on the life and legacy of civil rights activist and humanitarian, Fannie Lou Hamer, has been awarded $10,400 in grants to upgrade its educational website and Driving Tour of Hamer-related sites. The grants were awarded by the Mississippi Humanities Council ($5,500), The Phil Hardin Foundation ($2,500) and a private foundation ($2,400).

Documents like Hamer’s marriage certificate to her first husband, Charlie Gray, are displayed in the online Resource Center.

The K-12 curriculum, Find Your Voice, is found on the website, www.fannielouhamersamerica.com and was developed and designed by Maegan Parker Brooks, Davis Houck, Pablo Correa, and several teachers from the Mississippi Delta: Valerie Fairley, Brenda Kirkham, Alicia Ervin-Rawls, Latasha Rodgers, Danielle Creel Martin and RJ Morgan. The website was designed by Jules Null.

The online curriculum stems from the overall project, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America. The centerpiece of the multi-pronged project is an original 90-minute documentary, also titled, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America, which premiered on PBS and WORLD Channel in February 2022. The film, now available on Amazon, iTunes, PBS Passport, and other streaming platforms was produced by Hamer’s niece, Monica Land, and directed and edited by Fannie Lou Hamer historian and filmmaker Joy Elaine Davenport. Houck and Brooks were researchers and consultants on the film.

The online curriculum, spearheaded by Brooks, a Fannie Lou Hamer historian and author, who currently teaches at Willamette University, features a timeline and biographical sketch of Fannie Lou Hamer, new lesson plans, a children’s book written by Brooks and an eight-minute movie produced by Brooks and the children’s educational website, BrainPOP.

Houck, who is the Fannie Lou Hamer Professor of Rhetorical Studies at Florida State University, and Correa developed the Driving Tour which currently features 10 locations relevant to Hamer’s life and career. The sites include the church where she attended her first mass meeting in 1962, and the jail where she and several other voting rights advocates were viciously beaten at the hands of local law enforcement in Winona, MS in 1963.

The website also includes an online resource center featuring Hamer’s family history, the dedication of her statue in Ruleville, MS, various historical markers honoring her in Mississippi and New Jersey, a listing of the many organizations she founded or worked with, the schools and buildings named for her and more. The awarded funds will help expand the online resource center adding historical documents, articles and papers, and add additional sites to the Driving Tour with 360 views, film footage and audio.

Lloyd Gray

“The Phil Hardin Foundation was an early supporter of the Fannie Lou Hamer documentary project, and we were very impressed with the final product,” said Lloyd Gray, the foundation’s executive director. “It will add immensely to the knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of Ms. Hamer’s remarkable legacy, and we are especially excited about the potential of the related educational curriculum to inspire and motivate a new generation of students in Mississippi and elsewhere. For that reason, we have awarded an additional two grants to support its development and implementation, bringing the foundation’s total support of the project to $20,000.”

 The Mississippi Humanities Council has also been a constant supporter awarding the project its first grant in 2017. Additional grants supported the film’s production and the Sunflower County Film Academy, another component of the curriculum which teaches high school students in Hamer’s native Mississippi Delta how to tell their own stories through short films and videos.

Carol Andersen

“The Mississippi Humanities Council is pleased to support this project with a Reflecting Mississippi grant,” said Carol Andersen, assistant director of the Council. “We look forward to seeing the story of the life and accomplishments of Fannie Lou Hamer reach even more audiences through the expanded outreach outlined in this project. We are especially excited to see Hamer’s legacy reach young audiences through the young filmmaker’s workshop and the K-12 curriculum.”

Organizers said the goal of the website is to become an online library and virtual museum dedicated to Hamer’s work.

“Our vision for this website is so expansive,” said Land. “We want it to be an ongoing clearinghouse of all things Fannie Lou Hamer. We don’t want students and researchers to have to spend hours searching online for accurate information about Fannie Lou Hamer. Eventually, we hope to place everything they want or need to know about her on this website - for free. Aunt Fannie Lou was such an important historical figure and there is such a tremendous interest in her life. We saw that when our film was released. This website will help continue that interest. And we’re so grateful for the generosity and support of civic-minded organizations like Phil Hardin and the MHC.”

About MHC: The Mississippi Humanities Council is a private nonprofit corporation funded by Congress through the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide public programs in traditional liberal arts disciplines to serve nonprofit groups in Mississippi. The humanities are the study of history, literature, religion, languages, philosophy, and culture. The Mississippi Humanities Council creates opportunities for Mississippians to learn about themselves and the larger world and enriches communities through civil conversations about our history and culture.

About The Phil Hardin Foundation: Founded by Phil Hardin in 1964, the organization’s history is replete with examples of innovative leadership and productive partnerships. In the last 10 years, the Hardin Foundation has paid out more than $26 million in grants to improve student achievement; make educational and enrichment opportunities more available and equitable; increase understanding of Mississippi arts, culture and history; and build community capacity. Since the foundation's creation 57 years ago, their investments toward those goals total nearly $70 million.

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Historical Marker Planned for site of Winona Jail Where Fannie Lou Hamer Was Beaten