February 11, 2026
Hamer received the honor in 2025, nearly 50 years after her death.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom that was posthumously awarded to Fannie Lou Hamer is officially available for public viewing.
The award, granted to the late civil and women’s rights activist in January 2025, has found its new home at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, a part of the Two Mississippis Museum. Her family opted to gift the award to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, allowing visitors to view it in Hamer’s home state.
Hamer received the award for her work with voting rights, civil rights, and women’s rights.
“I am gratified that Aunt Fannie’s Presidential Medal of Freedom will be exhibited in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum,” Hamer’s niece, Marilyn Mays, told BLACK ENTERPRISE. “Her courage and perseverance in the face of adversity are a shining example of patriotism and a reminder of our responsibility to safeguard our rights and freedoms for all and for future generations.”
Hamer, born in Montgomery County, Mississippi, in 1917, experienced the hardships of the Jim Crow South throughout her upbringing. Her involvement with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s made her a champion of voting rights advocacy and an organizer for Mississippi’s Freedom Summer of 1964.
Her famed “I Question America” speech, delivered at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, helped secure the support needed for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Throughout her lifetime, she used her voice to effect change and spark justice for marginalized groups, especially Black people and women. Her leadership also extended to co-founding the National Women’s Political Caucus, which aimed to help all women run for elected office.
Her legacy for gender and racial equity continues to resonate with Black Mississippians and the country at large. Now, her home state will carry her legacy forward for future visitors.
“I am so happy we were able to gift this award to the museum and to the people of Mississippi,” added Hamer’s other niece, Monica Land. “Aunt Fannie Lou loved Mississippi and, hopefully, this donation will spark or further interest in her life and all that she fought so hard to accomplish for all people—not just Black people.”
Hamer died of breast cancer in 1977. She was 59.
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