by Daniel Johnson
August 25, 2024
The NJ marker commemorates the role Atlantic City played in supporting the Mississippi Freedom Party, which made a historic appearance at the 1964 Democratic National Convention held at Jersey’s Boardwalk Hall.
New Jersey became the first state outside of Mississippi to get a stop on the Mississippi Freedom Trail on Aug. 20. The Mississippi Freedom Trail is a part of the larger United States Civil Rights Trail and is composed of 30 sites connected to the Civil Rights Movement.
According to Asbury Park Press, the new marker fits into a commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the 1964 Freedom Summer movement, a 1964 initiative aimed to increase voter registration among Black citizens in Mississippi. Freedom Summer is just one aspect of the Mississippi Freedom Trail, a historical trail that commemorates significant sites related to the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.
The trail marker in New Jersey pays homage to the Mississippi Freedom Party and their historic appearance at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, which took place at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
New Jersey’s acting Governor Tahesha Way said in a statement that the marker signifies Atlantic City’s role in supporting Freedom Summer activists as they made history.
“Atlantic City is home to several locations that honor the state’s civil rights history, including the Civil Rights Garden and the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey,” Gov. Way said. “Today, this new Freedom Trail marker signifies the community’s role in supporting the Freedom Summer activists to ensure equal representation for Black voters, which played a key role in the Civil Rights movement and forever altered the course of U.S. election history.”
Fannie Lou Hamer’s testimony before the DNC Credentials Committee on August 22, 1964 was so powerful that President Johnson called an impromptu press conference to get her off the air. His plan backfired. pic.twitter.com/LxhhybJIsb
— American Experience (@AmExperiencePBS) August 22, 2024
In 1964, Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi Freedom Party were refused seats at the Democratic National Convention, but she did make a speech from the floor of the Democratic National Convention, calling for Black people to be allowed to exercise their civic freedom and vote amid racist terrorism.
According to the Mississippi Free Press Hamer was one of the architects of the Freedom Summer initiatives and with her trademark fire, questioned America and who was allowed to be considered a citizen.
“If the Freedom Democratic Party is not seated now, I question America,” Hamer said. “Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we have to asleep with our telephones off of the hooks because our lives be threatened daily, because we want to live as decent human beings, in America?”
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