This Little Light of Mine

On August 31, 1962, Fannie Lou Hamer rode a bus with 17 other African Americans from her hometown of Ruleville to Indianola, Mississippi to register to vote. She was refused her legal right to register. When she returned home, she was fired by her employer and her family was thrown off the land where they had been sharecroppers. This injustice lit a fire inside Mrs. Hamer and put her on a path to becoming an important leader for the Civil Rights Movement in the South. This book tells the life story of this strong, indomitable woman who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., rallied the spirits of protestors by singing hymns, and never backed down in the face of inequality. Biographies of significant American figures are valuable for researchers at the Smithsonian, including staff at the new National Museum of African American History & Culture.