Mississippi State Historical Marker
Kilmichael, Mississippi
Unveiling and Dedication: April 22, 2023
Location: 311 North Depot Avenue (Old Highway 82), Kilmichael, MS in front of Poppy’s Home Supply and the C&S Event Center.
A historical marker honoring civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer was unveiled in Kilmichael, MS on Saturday, April 22 at 11 am. The marker commemorates Hamer’s connection to the small town in Montgomery County, where her husband, Perry “Pap” Hamer was born and raised.
Though Hamer often said she was born in Montgomery County, she testified in federal court in December 1963 that she was born in Tomnolen in Webster County, which borders Montgomery County. Her family moved to a plantation in the Mississippi Delta when she was two years old.
Friends said Hamer likely said she was from Montgomery County because at that time, the U.S. mail was delivered to the nearest and largest county, which in the case of Hamer’s family, was Montgomery County. And when people were asked where they were from, they would name the county they received mail from.
The idea for the marker, as well as the funding, came from Montgomery County native Chris Snell and her husband, Wiley, a retired high school administrator from Fort Lauderdale, FL. The couple, who are both Rust College graduates, worked with Jim Woodrick and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) for two years in their effort to preserve the Hamer’s legacy in the town of less than 1,000 residents.
Marker Program.
Hamer’s last surviving child, Jacqueline Hamer Flakes had been asked to be the guest speaker at the unveiling, but declined due to failing health. She died on March 27. Dr. Leslie Burl McLemore, who worked alongside Hamer and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (M.F.D.P.) agreed to speak at the ceremony.
Program Cover
Dr. Leslie Bult McLemore Bio
Presenters on the program
Program Back
“We all need a hammer, so we can hammer out justice and love all over this land. So we can work together in the spirit of Fannie Lou Hamer,” said Dr. Leslie Burl McLemore, to the crowd gathered to witness the unveiling of a marker honoring Fannie Lou Hamer in Kilmichael. Hamer’s husband, Perry “Pap” Hamer was born in Kilmichael on March 3, 1912.
Pap and Fannie Lou both worked on the Marlowe Plantation in Sunflower County and were married in July 1944. This was the second marriage for both. They would visit Pap’s family in Kilmichael often including his father Lynn, his stepmother, Pairlee, and his brothers and sister. Fannie Lou would sing at the Hamer family’s church, Shady Grove Methodist. Most of Pap’s family members are buried at Shady Grove which is about five miles from where the marker was unveiled.
Organizer and sponsor Chris Snall and Kilmichael town officials unveil the marker
Civil rights activist Dr. Leslie Burl McLemore speaks to the crowd
A Kilmichael town official and Chris Snell (r) unveil the marker
(l) Kilmichael town officials, former Kilmichael Mayor Bobby Howell and Chris Snell
Former Kilmichael Mayor Bobby Howell and Chris Snell
Civil Rights activists Dr. Leslie Burl McLemore and James Meredith
Civil rights activist, James Meredith, also attended the unveiling and said although he didn’t know her personally, he had been “interested in Fannie Lou Hamer ever since” he’d “heard about her.”
“I’ve kept up with everything that’s gone on with the Black [community] for many years,” he said. “Ever since I was 18 years old, I’ve really kept up with everything and every body to try to figure out what they were doing. And I have been most interested through the years in Fannie Lou Hamer. Not only because she did so much work, but because she told the truth as she saw it all the time. And that’s what America needs, particularly Blacks.”
Meredith, 90, became the first Black student admitted to the racially segregated University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in 1962, after much opposition and the eventual intervention of the federal government.
“Right now, I’m in the middle of trying to establish a Black think tank,” said Meredith. “So that everyone that wants to say something, will have a voice somewhere, and Fannie Lou Hamer has spoken to it many times. I went to Kilmichael because I want to establish a greater relationship with her work and her timeline. And because the things that she tried to make happen, are definitely things we need to make happen. So, we have a lot of work to do.”
Photos by: Vickie Roberts Ratliff and Fannie Lou Hamer’s America