Three weeks later, Medgar Evers was murdered. In spring 1964, the KKK stopped Joan’s car outside Canton, Mississippi, surrounded it, and beat the driver. They escaped—barely. Joan later learned the KKK had intended to kill her that night. When they failed, they killed three other activists three weeks later: James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. Joan had given Schwerner his orientation just days before.
“Because we weren’t killed,” Joan said, “our friends were.”
By age 23, Joan had participated in over 50 sit-ins, been arrested multiple times, imprisoned on death row, attacked with brass knuckles and glass, and hunted by the KKK.
And she never stopped.
Joan returned to Virginia, married, raised five sons—all named after people who overcame hardships—and worked as a teacher’s aide while continuing her activism. She participated in the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965 and the Meredith March Against Fear in 1966.
Today, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland is 83 years old. She founded the Joan Trumpauer Mulholland Foundation in 2014 to involve new generations in activism. She speaks at schools and events across the country, sharing her story and inspiring young people.
She has received the National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award, the Simeon Booker Award for Courage, and an honorary doctorate from Tougaloo College. In 2025, a bill was introduced in Congress to award her the Congressional Gold Medal.
But Joan doesn’t do it for awards. She does it because the work isn’t finished.
“We’ve still got a mighty long way to go,” she says. “Pick the problem that bothers you the most.”
Read more on the next page ⬇️⬇️⬇️
