Walk with Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer

Kate Clifford Larson’s biography of Civil Rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, Walk with Me, is stirring, immersive, and authoritative. Recently declassified FBI files, rich movement archives, interviews with veteran activists, and extensive conversations with Hamer’s family led Larson to uncover Hamer the woman, her struggles to survive, and the critical turning points that forced her rebirth from a Mississippi sharecropper into a fierce freedom fighter. By centering Hamer within the larger Civil Rights story, Larson elevates the profound faith and full spirit that undergirded Hamer’s powerful voice, a voice that inspired millions to join in her demands for justice and equality in America.

Kate Clifford Larson is a bestselling author of critically acclaimed biographies including Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero and Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter. Her latest work, Walk With Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer tells the remarkable story of one of America's most important civil rights leaders of the 20th century. Larson is also an award-winning consultant for feature film scripts, documentaries, museum exhibits, and public history initiatives. She is frequently interviewed by national and international media outlets. Dr. Larson is a Brandeis University Women’s Studies Research Center Visiting Scholar.

The Washington History Seminar is co-chaired by Eric Arnesen (George Washington University and the National History Center) and Christian Ostermann (Woodrow Wilson Center) and is organized jointly by the National History Center of the American Historical Association and the Woodrow Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program. It meets weekly during the academic year. The seminar thanks its anonymous individual donors and institutional partners (the George Washington University History Department and the Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest) for their continued support.