Fannie Hopkins Hamilton

Fannie Hopkins Hamilton (1882–1964) was an African-American dress maker and suffragist who joined the Equal Suffrage Study Club and uplifted the black community in Wilmington, Delaware. She was born in 1882 in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, but later moved to Wilmington at the age of eight. Fannie’s brother, John O. Hopkins, served on Wilmington’s City Council and often disputed racial segregation policies.

Early life Fannie Hopkins Hamilton was born in 1882 in Queen’s Anne’s County, Maryland and moved to Wilmington, Delaware when she was eight with her widowed mother. Her stepfather, Benjamin Briggs, was also a minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Suffrage Work Fannie Hopkins Hamilton worked with the Equal Suffrage Study Group, the Organization of Business and Professional Women, the Colored Women’s Republican Committee, Red Circle Community Association, and the “Walnut Street Y. They had two daughters together: Katherine Lorraine Hamilton and Elizabeth Anderson Parker. She had a granddaughter and three great-grandchildren as well.

Final years During her final years, Fannie continued to pursue her career as a dressmaker, businesswoman, suffragist, and civil rights activist. Once her health started to fail, she died at the age of 81 in 1964.

Legacy Her role in creating the Organization of Business and Professional Women in Wilmington lived on as well as her mentorship in teaching dressmaking at Wilmington schools. Fannie would donate her time to help families plan their wartime clothing budgets, work to provide foster homes and recreational programs for black children, and fund-raising for the Red Cross. A large portion of the community relied on Fannie’s business and economic skills.