Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer, Civil Rights Leader

Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer, Civil Rights Leader Known for her civil rights activism, Fannie Lou Hamer was called the spirit of the civil rights movement. Born a sharecropper, she worked from the age of six as a timekeeper on a cotton plantation. Later, she became involved in the Black Freedom Struggle and eventually moved on to become a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).   Dates:  October 6, 1917 - March 14, 1977Also known as:  Fannie Lou Townsend Hamer About Fannie Lou Hamer Fannie Lou Hamer, born in Mississippi, was working in the fields when she was six and was only educated through the sixth grade. She married in 1942 and adopted two children. She went to work on the plantation where her husband drove a tractor, first as a field worker and then as the plantations timekeeper. She also attended meetings of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, where speakers addressed self-help, civil rights, and voting rights. Field Secretary With the SNCC In 1962, Fannie Lou Hamer volunteered to work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) registering black voters in the South. She and the rest of her family lost their jobs for her involvement, and SNCC hired her as a field secretary. She was able to register to vote for the first time in her life in 1963 and then taught others what theyd need to know to pass the then-required literacy test. In her organizing work, she often led the activists in singing Christian hymns about freedom: This Little Light of Mine and others. She helped organize the 1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi, a campaign sponsored by SNCC, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the NAACP. In 1963, after being charged with disorderly conduct for refusing to go along with a restaurants whites only policy, Hamer was beaten so badly in jail, and refused medical treatment, that she was permanently disabled. Founding Member and VP of the MFDP Because African Americans were excluded from the Mississippi Democratic Party, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) was formed, with Fannie Lou Hamer as a founding member and vice president. The MFDP sent an alternate delegation to the 1964 Democratic National Convention, with 64 black and 4 white delegates. Fannie Lou Hamer testified to the conventions Credentials Committee about violence and discrimination faced by black voters trying to register to vote, and her testimony was televised nationally. The MFDP refused a compromise offered to seat two of their delegates and returned to further political organizing in Mississippi, and in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. Delegate to the Democratic National Convention of 1972 From 1968 to 1971, Fannie Lou Hamer was a member of the Democratic National Committee for Mississippi. Her 1970 lawsuit, Hamer v. Sunflower County, demanded school desegregation. She ran unsuccessfully for the Mississippi state Senate in 1971, and successfully for delegate to the Democratic National Convention of 1972. Other Accomplishments She also lectured extensively, and was known for a signature line she often used, Im sick and tired of being sick and tired. She was known as a powerful speaker, and her singing voice lent another power to civil rights meetings. Fannie Lou Hamer brought a Head Start program to her local community, to form a local Pig Bank cooperative (1968) with the help of the National Council of Negro Women, and later to found the Freedom Farm Cooperative (1969). She helped found the National Womens Political Caucus in 1971, speaking for the inclusion of racial issues in the feminist agenda. In 1972 the Mississippi House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring her national and state activism, passing 116 to 0. Suffering from breast cancer, diabetes, and heart problems, Fannie Lou Hamer died in Mississippi in 1977. She had published To Praise Our Bridges: An Autobiography in 1967. June Jordan published a biography of Fannie Lou Hamer in 1972, and Kay Mills published This Little Light of Mine: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer in 1993. Background, Family Father: Jim TownsendMother: Ella Townsendyoungest of 20 childrenborn in Montgomery County, Mississippi; family moved when she was two to Sunflower County, Mississippi Education Hamer attended the segregated school system in Mississippi, with a short school year to accommodate fieldwork as a child of a sharecropping family. She dropped out by 6th grade.   Marriage, Children Husband: Perry Pap Hamer (married 1942; tractor driver)Children (adopted): Dorothy Jean, Vergie Ree Religion Baptist Organizations Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), National Womens Political Caucus (NWPC), others

Outstanding Ideas for a Subject Fair and Guidelines

Outstanding Ideas for a Subject Fair and Guidelines Science Fair Projects: What You Need to Know A science fair project is one of the most popular assignments to test what students have learned in the class. When completing such a task, you need to research the chosen problem, offer the best solutions and design a way to test offered ideas. Such experiments are quite popular in high schools, but they require more skills than just basic knowledge of the subject. Distinguishing features of such assignments are originality, research and analytical skills. Your project should also be relevant to the latest technologies and inventions. It should contribute to the society and offer a solution to one of the modern problems. The best ideas for your science fair project There are many ideas, which will help you to get started. They differ depending on your academic level because you need to understand the discussed topic freely. Below you will find lists of great ideas for your science fair project depending on the grade and subjects. Elementary topics The following ideas are designed for students of a 4th grade. They aim to show what you have learned during your 3rd and 4th grade, so don’t hesitate to choose the one, which suits you the most: How do seeds germinate; Soda carbonation; How soil erosion can be prevented; How Easter eggs are dyed; Is it possible to have a color-mixed crystal? Usage of hydrogel crystals in detecting humidity; Insulators and conductors; Factors, which cause dew; How soil erosion can be prevented? Various taste zones of our tongue. Middle school topics 8th grade students should be able to perform all the skills they have gained in the 5, 6, 7 and 8th grades. Here are some of the best topics: Can chewing gum make students smarter? Dependence on solar power on temperature; Influence of light on plants; How fabric softener influences different types of fabrics; Do we have a blind spot? Electromagnetic trains: how they work; How to power a radio, using solar power; How smell and taste interlink; Ways to clear up an oxidized coin; Impact of music on different biological species. Ideas for various subjects During high school students need to face multiple subjects and very often teachers simply ask them to invent the topic independently. We have some ideas for you! Chemistry Influence of acids on corrosion; How to turn milk to plastic; Homemade PH paper; Solution for soluble separation; How to identify chemical substances. Electronics and electricity Medical applications, which remind when you need to take pills; How to make a dimmer switch; Magnets to detect current; Brightness and current; Wire recording. Food science and cooking How to determine the content of iodine in salt; Does the level of sugar differ depending on fruit ripening? How much water dried beans absorb; How to choose the right pot; How to measure the sweetness of your meal. Microbiology Resistance of antibiotics; How to minimize bacteria, while cooking meat; Use of disinfectants. Power and energy How to turn oil to fuel; Energy of biomass; How to extract energy from the ocean? Usage of hydropower; Creating a solar oven on your own. How to choose the most suitable science fair project topic Once you get familiar with various ideas for your science fair, you need to decide which suits you the most. It can be very challenging not knowing where to start and what to do. That is why we offer you some tips to choose a perfect idea: Does the topic meet the teacher’s requirements? The chosen idea must fulfill all of the requirements, because you risk of being disqualified; Can you complete the project? The chosen topic must fit your skills. If you select a difficult idea you will need more time to complete it and will most likely have to turn for side assistance; Can you deliver it on time? Long-lasting projects may result in late delivery, which can influence your final grade. Choose a topic, which you can surely deliver before the deadline; Make sure you are able to provide all the tools and items, required by the experiment. If you have a limited budget, you won’t be able to conduct a science fair project, which requires expensive equipment.