Mary Hamilton (activist)

Mary Lucille Hamilton
The 1961 arrest photo for Harlem CORE member Mary Hamilton as a Freedom Rider in Jackson, Mississippi. At the time, she was 25 years old.
Born(1935-10-13)October 13, 1935
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
DiedNovember 11, 2002(2002-11-11) (aged 67)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesMary Hamilton Young, Mary Hamilton Wesley
Occupation(s)Activist, teacher
Known forHamilton v. Alabama (1964)
MovementCivil rights movement

Mary Lucille Hamilton (October 13, 1935 – November 11, 2002) was an African American civil rights activist. Her case before the United States Supreme Court, Hamilton v. Alabama, decided that an African American woman was entitled to the same courteous forms of address customarily reserved solely to whites in the Southern United States, and that calling a black person by his or her first name in a legal proceeding was "a form of racial discrimination".