Fannie Lou Hamer’s Daughter Attends Historic Marker Unveiling
November 6, 2020 – INDIANOLA, MS
The last surviving child of civil rights activist, Fannie Lou Hamer, attended an unveiling ceremony of a historical marker honoring the location where her mother first attempted to register to vote nearly 60 years ago.
Jacqueline Hamer Flakes nicknamed ‘Cookie’, by her adoptive parents, was one of several family members of the beloved activist who gathered at the Sunflower County Courthouse in Indianola on Oct. 6 on what would have been Hamer’s 103rd birthday.
“If she were alive to see how she was honored on that day, I know she would have remained humble and would have reminded us that the battle is not over,” Flakes said. “Everything that is going on now, went on back then.”
The marker, which commemorates Hamer’s courageous attempt on August 31, 1962, marks the location at 200 Second Street, where Hamer and 18 others were turned away by county officials for failing the literacy test - a test not required by potential white voters. It was at a mass meeting at William Chapel Church four days earlier in her native Ruleville and organized by SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee founded by the late Congressman John Lewis) that Hamer learned she had the legal right to vote.
After leaving the courthouse, which was later torn down, and rebuilt in 1966, Hamer began working with SNCC on their voter registration efforts. Hamer went on to become the “spark plug” of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, an organization she helped form in April 1964 that helped thousands of African Americans to register and vote. She also helped organize Freedom Summer that brought hundreds of students to the Magnolia State to help poor Blacks register to vote. Hamer’s efforts were not without impunity as she endured several assassination attempts, and a brutal jailhouse beating in Winona, MS, at the hands of local law enforcement. Hamer spoke of her ordeal on national television when she testified before the Credentials Committee on Aug. 22, 1964.
Hamer’s efforts influenced the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The new Fannie Lou Hamer Marker celebrates that achievement and was spearheaded by 17-year-old Brian Diyaolu, a Public History student at Mississippi Valley State University, and his adjunct professor, Dr. C. Sade Turnipseed.
"At MVSU, we care about historical figures in America. We want to make sure these cherished and important people are remembered,” said Diyaolu. “Individuals are remembered in the sands of time, and Mrs. Hamer falls in this category of people, so we made it our sacred duty to honor her contributions so that she is not forgotten," he added.
“The students and faculty of MVSU truly carried on the legacy of my mom by unveiling the Fannie Lou Hamer Marker at the Sunflower County Courthouse in Indianola,” Flakes said. “Mrs. Turnipseed…along with her student from Nigeria, spoke so well about the civil rights movement and the activists who started their journey right there where we were, at the courthouse.”
“The Fannie Lou Hamer Voting Rights Historical Marker is the first in the series of historical markers Khafre, Inc., has planned that pays homage to the legacy of Cotton Pickers in America,” said Turnipseed, who is also the founder of the Sunflower County-based organization.
The courthouse marker, funded by local officials and private citizens, was designed by artist John McCall.
The marker displays several pictures of Hamer and gives a brief description of her activist and humanitarian efforts. The unveiling on Oct. 6 was slated for March 2020 but was delayed due to statewide COVID-19 restrictions. The marker is the third testament celebrating Hamer as a voting rights advocate.
In May 2011, Hamer was the fourth individual added to the Mississippi Freedom Trail and a marker was placed at her memorial park and garden in Ruleville. The park, the former site of the Freedom Farm she founded in 1969 to feed hungry Mississippians – features several monuments detailing her career, and a life-size statue that was dedicated in October 2012. Both Hamer and her husband, Pap, who died in 1992, are buried in the park.
Another Freedom Trail Marker, at William Chapel Methodist Church, honors the spot where Hamer’s entry into politics officially began.
Turnipseed said MVSU is committed to positively impacting the quality of life and creating extraordinary educational opportunities for the Mississippi Delta and beyond.
“She was a beacon of light,” Turnipseed told the Associated Press of Hamer. “Her fight…enabled all Americans the right to register to vote. That’s why we’re putting the marker there – because it took so much courage for a woman to do this.”