Ellie Jewel Davis Dahmer is a lifelong Civil Rights activist and educator from Mississippi. She and her late husband, Vernon F. Dahmer Sr. led voter registration drives and accepted poll tax monies at their family-owned grocery store, located in the Kelly Settlement of Forrest County, to fight voter suppression and promote civic involvement throughout the county and Hattiesburg, Miss. A native of Jasper County, Miss., Mrs. Dahmer moved to Forrest County during the early 1950s and taught for many years in the segregated Forrest County school system. Despite her immense teaching qualifications, she was denied a renewed contract after school consolidation due to her husband’s efforts and leadership as an advocate of voter rights. Although the Voting Rights Act of 1965 provided all races equal access to voting rights, the state of Mississippi still required residents to pay a poll tax, which impeded many potential black voters. As a result, Mr. Dahmer publicly announced that he would pay the poll tax for any person who wanted to vote but could not afford it. The following night, January 10, 1966, members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) firebombed the Dahmer’s home and business while the family slept. Mr. Dahmer stayed behind to return gunshots, allowing time for Mrs. Dahmer and their children to escape their burning home. Tragically, Mr. Dahmer succumbed to severe burns and smoke inhalation and died shortly after in the hospital. Following her husband’s death, Mrs. Dahmer remained on the family’s land and rebuilt her home with the support of local community members. She held multiple part-time jobs, such as cosmetology and newspaper sales, to provide for herself and her children while maintaining the family’s farm, which generously provided resources for anyone in need. Mrs. Dahmer testified against those involved in her husband’s murder in numerous federal and state trials, which unfortunately resulted in hung juries, mistrials and a few state convictions that were quickly followed by pardons. Still, Mrs. Dahmer persevered and continued the work she and her husband started, serving as Election Commissioner for District 2 of Forrest County for 12 years, and pledging her life to family, education and equal rights. Decades later, Mrs. Dahmer played a pivotal role in getting her husband’s case reopened. In 1998, the Dahmer family received the justice they had been longing for – the life sentencing of KKK Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers, who was found guilty in the murder of Vernon F. Dahmer Sr. A lifetime of service has established Mrs. Dahmer as a pillar of Hattiesburg, Forrest County and the state of Mississippi. She taught public school for a total of 38 years in Jasper, Jones, Forrest and Perry counties; holds a life membership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); and is a founding member of the Beta Chi Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. She is also an active member of Shady Grove Baptist Church, where she has taught the Senior Women’s Sunday School Class for more than 60 years. Mrs. Dahmer holds a Bachelor of Science in home economics from Tennessee State Agricultural and Industrial College and an elementary education certification from Jackson State University. She also completed graduate course work at Indiana University. Mrs. Dahmer was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) in Fall 2019. Story derived from USM website, author Arlicia Jordan.