by Daniel Johnson
25 August 2024
The New Jersey 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 New Jersey's Boardwalk Hall.
On August 20, New Jersey became the first state outside of Mississippi to receive a stop on the Mississippi Freedom Trail. The Mississippi Freedom Trail is part of the larger United States Civil Rights Trail and consists of 30 locations associated with the civil rights movement.
According to the Asbury Park Press, the new marker fits in with the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the 1964 Freedom Summer movement, a 1964 initiative aimed at increasing voter registration among Mississippi's black citizens. Freedom Summer is just one aspect of the Mississippi Freedom Trail, a historic walking trail that commemorates significant sites associated with the civil rights movement in Mississippi.
The signpost in New Jersey pays homage to the Mississippi Freedom Party and its historic appearance at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Acting New Jersey Governor Tahesha Way said in a statement that the memorial symbolizes Atlantic City's role in supporting Freedom Summer activists as they made history.
“Atlantic City is home to several sites that honor the state's civil rights history, including the Civil Rights Garden and the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey,” said Governor Way. “Today, this new Freedom Trail sign symbolizes the community's role in supporting the Freedom Summer activists fighting for equal representation for Black voters, which played a key role in the civil rights movement and forever changed the course of U.S. electoral history.”
Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony before the DNC Credentials Committee on August 22, 1964 was so powerful that President Johnson had to call 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 denied seats at the Democratic National Convention, but she gave a speech demanding that blacks be allowed to exercise their civil liberties and vote despite racist terror.
According to the Mississippi Free Press, Hamer was one of the architects of the Freedom Summer initiative and, with her typical zeal, challenged America's identity and who qualifies as a citizen.
“If the Freedom Democratic Party is not in office now, I question America,” Hamer said. “Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we have to sleep with our phones off the hook because our lives are threatened every day because we want to live as decent people, in America?”
SIMILAR CONTENT: It has been 60 years since Fannie Lou Hamer’s “Is This America?” speech to the DNC