Funeral program for Fannie Lou Hamer, March 20, 1977

Two services were held on Sunday, March 20, 1977, for Fannie Lou Hamer in Ruleville, Mississippi, and one folded sheet of paper carries the order of both. A Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture record describes the funeral program, which was printed in black ink on two sheets of white paper folded to make four interior pages.

Image from the museum's record: view 1.

What the program says

• Cover: a black-and-white photograph of Hamer, shown from the shoulders up and facing the viewer, centered inside a thin black frame. Above it is the word [OBSEQUIES]. Below it the cover gives the date and the two services: [FUNERAL SERVICES 2:00 P. M. / Williams Chapel Baptist Church / RULEVILLE, MISSISSIPPI / MEMORIAN SERVICE 3:30 P. M. / Ruleville Central High School], as printed.
• Page one: the program of speakers and performers for the 2:00 p.m. service.
• Pages two and three: a biography of Hamer, a history of her Civil Rights advocacy, her attempts to run for Congress, and her awards and degrees from various universities.
• Page four: the program of speakers and performers for the 3:30 p.m. service.
• Inside back cover: lists of flowerbearers, active pallbearers and honorary pallbearers. The honorary pallbearers continue on the back of the back cover.

Who and what the record links it to

The record lists a number of people and organizations as subjects of the program. Those it gives with both dates include Ella Baker (1903 - 1986), Dorothy Height (1912 - 2010), Aaron Henry (1922 - 1997), Stokely Carmichael (Trinidadian American, 1941 - 1998), Rep. Julian Bond (1940 - 2015), Vincent Harding (1931 - 2014) and Amzie Moore (1911 - 1982), along with Hamer herself (1917 - 1977). It also names the Freedom Farm Cooperative (founded 1969), the National Council of Negro Women (founded 1935) and Thomas E. Edwards, Sr. High School.

The record

Sources

• Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, object record 2019.110 (https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2019.110), released under CC0 through Smithsonian Open Access; rewritten in hubnx's own words.