Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer (Sheet of six stamps sold together)

Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer were both influential civil rights activists who fought for equal rights and justice for African Americans in the United States. They are honored with a joint stamp that was issued by the United States Postal Service on June 13, 2021.

Medgar Evers was a World War II veteran who became the Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP in 1954. He worked tirelessly to desegregate schools, public places, and voting booths. He also played a crucial role in investigating the murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955. Evers was assassinated in 1963 outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi by a white supremacist.

Fannie Lou Hamer was a sharecropper and civil rights activist from Mississippi. She became involved in the civil rights movement after attending a voter registration meeting in 1962. She helped to organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which sought to challenge the all-white delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. She famously testified before the Credentials Committee about the brutal treatment she and other African Americans faced when trying to register to vote. Hamer died in 1977, but her legacy as a powerful voice for civil rights and social justice lives on.

The stamp honoring Evers and Hamer features a portrait of the two activists along with American Flags in the background. The stamp serves as a tribute to the bravery and dedication of Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer, who fought for justice and equality in a time of great social upheaval and change.