Fannie Lou Hamer Townsend (1917-1977) was an American voting and women's rights activist, community organizer, and leader of the civil rights movement. In 1962, when she tried to register to vote, she was threatened, harassed, shot at, and assaulted by racists, including members of the police. She later helped and encouraged thousands of African Americans in Mississippi to become registered voters and helped hundreds of disenfranchised people through a variety of work programs. She ran for the U.S. Senate in 1964, and the Mississippi state senate in 1971.