Medgar Wiley Evers (July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963) was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi. He was murdered on June 12, 1963 by Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the Ku Klux Klan. is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Decatur is a town located in Newton County, Mississippi. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... : Crossroads of the South : The city of Grace and Benevolence United States Mississippi Hinds, (very small portions in Madison and Rankin) 106. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action or inaction to bring about social or political change. ... Myrlie Evers-Arias (born March 17, 1933, nee Myrlie Beasley in Vicksburg, Mississippi) is an African American activist. ... is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Prominent figures of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action or inaction to bring about social or political change. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Image:ByronDeLaBeckwith. ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ...

Early life

Medgar Evers was born on July 2, 1925 in Decatur, Mississippi. In 1943, Evers, then 17, dropped out of high school to enlist in the army with his older brother Charlie^[1] . Edgers fought in the European Theatre of WWII and was honorably discharged in 1945 as a sergeant. In 1946, having returned to his hometown, Evers, along with his brother and four friends, registered to vote in a local election. On voting day, however, local white citizens used intimidation to prevent Evers and the others from casting their votes. He recounts this fateful moment in his autobiography: Decatur is a town located in Newton County, Mississippi. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Charles Evers (b. ... Animation of the WWII European Theatre. ... A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. ... For other uses, see Sergeant (disambiguation). ...

...when we got to the courthouse, the clerk said he wanted to talk with us. When we got into his office, some 15 or 20 armed white men surged in behind us, men I had grown up with, had played with. We split up and went home. Around town, Negroes said we had been whipped, beaten up and run out of town. Well, in a way we were whipped, I guess, but I made up my mind then that it would not be like that again--at least not for me.^[1]

In 1948, Evers enrolled at Alcorn State University, majoring in business administration. In college he was on the debate team, played football and track, sang in the school choir and served as president of his junior class. Alcorn State University, located near Lorman, Mississippi, United States, is a public land grant university. ... Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a tertiary degree in business management. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

He married classmate Myrlie Beasley on December 24, 1951, and completed work on his degree the following year. The couple moved to Mound Bayou, MS, where T.R.M. Howard had hired him to sell insurance for his Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Company. Howard was also the president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL), a civil rights and pro self-help organization. Involvement in the RCNL gave Evers crucial training in activism. He helped to organize the RCNL's boycott of service stations that denied blacks use of their restrooms. The boycotters distributed bumper stickers with the slogan "Don't Buy Gas Where You Can't Use the Restroom." Along with his brother, Charles Evers, he also attended the RCNL's annual conferences in Mound Bayou between 1952 and 1954 which drew crowds of ten thousand or more. Myrlie Evers-Arias (born March 17, 1933, nee Myrlie Beasley in Vicksburg, Mississippi) is an African American activist. ... is the 358th day of the year (359th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mound Bayou is a city located in Bolivar County, Mississippi. ... Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard (T.R.M. Howard) (March 4, 1908 —- May 1, 1976) was an African American civil rights leader, fraternal organization leader, surgeon, and entrepreneur. ... The Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL) was probably the leading civil rights organization in Mississippi during the early 1950s. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action or inaction to bring about social or political change. ... Look up Boycott in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Modern gas station A filling station, gas station or petrol station is a facility that sells fuel for road motor vehicles – usually petrol (US: gas/gasoline), diesel fuel and LPG. The term gas station is mostly particular to the United States of America and Canada, where petrol is known... Bumper stickers are often used on commercial vehicles so that employers can receive feedback about the driving habits of their employees A bumper sticker is an adhesive label or sticker with a message, intended to be attached to the bumper of an automobile and to be read by the occupants... Charles Evers (b. ...

Evers applied to the then-segregated University of Mississippi Law School in February 1954. When his application was rejected, Evers became the focus of an NAACP campaign to desegregate the school, a case aided by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case of Brown v. Board of Education 347 U.S. 483 that segregation was unconstitutional. In December of that year, Evers became the NAACP's first field officer in Mississippi. The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential hate organizations in the United States. ... Desegregation is the process of ending racial segregation, most commonly used in reference to the United States. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... Holding Segregation of students in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, because separate facilities are inherently unequal. ...

NAACP Field Secretary

He was involved in a boycott campaign against white merchants and was instrumental in eventually desegregating the University of Mississippi when that institution was finally forced to enroll James Meredith in 1962. Meredith walking to class accompanied by U.S. marshals James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights movement figure, although he vocally prefers not to be regarded as such. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the weeks leading up to his death, Evers found himself the target of a number of threats. His public investigations into the murder of Emmett Till and his vocal support of Clyde Kennard left him vulnerable to attack. On May 28, 1963, a molotov cocktail was thrown into the carport of his home, and five days before his death, he was nearly run down by a car after he emerged from the Jackson NAACP office. Civil rights demonstrations accelerated in Jackson during the first week of June 1963. A local television station granted Evers time for a short speech, his first in Mississippi, where he outlined the goals of the Jackson movement. Following the speech, threats on Evers' life increased. Emmett Louis Bobo Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955) was a fourteen year old African-American boy from Chicago, Illinois brutally murdered [1] in Money, Mississippi, a small town in the states Delta region. ... Clyde Kennard (died July 4, 1963) was an African-American in Mississippi who attempted several times to enroll in the states public institutions of higher learning during the 1950s. ... is the 148th day of the year (149th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... Molotov cocktail is the generic name for a variety of crude incendiary weapons. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential hate organizations in the United States. ...

Assassination

On June 12, 1963, Evers pulled into his driveway after returning from an integration meeting where he had conferred with NAACP lawyers. Emerging from his car and carrying NAACP T-shirts that stated, "Jim Crow Must Go", Evers was struck in the back with a bullet that ricocheted into his home. He staggered 30 feet before collapsing, dying at the local hospital 50 minutes later. Evers was murdered just hours after President John F. Kennedy's speech on national television in support of civil rights.^[2] is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential hate organizations in the United States. ... Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Gay bashing Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial... John Kennedy and JFK redirect here. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ...

House where Evers was shot.

Mourned nationally, Evers was buried on June 19 in Arlington National Cemetery and received full military honors in front of a crowd of more than 3,000 people, the largest funeral at Arlington since the interment of John Foster Dulles, former U.S. Secretary of State in 1959. The past chairman of the American Veterans' Committee, Mickey Levine, said at the services, "No soldier in this field has fought more courageously, more heroically than Medgar Evers." Image File history File links 9ee2. ... Image File history File links 9ee2. ... is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Military funeral. ... John Foster Dulles (February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. ... In several countries, Secretary of State is a senior government position. ...

On June 23, 1964, Byron De La Beckwith, a fertilizer salesman and member of the White Citizens' Council and Ku Klux Klan, was arrested for Evers' murder. During the course of his first 1964 trial, De La Beckwith was visited by former Mississippi governor Ross Barnett and one time Army Major General Edwin A. Walker. is the 174th day of the year (175th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... Image:ByronDeLaBeckwith. ... It has been suggested that Citizens Councils of America be merged into this article or section. ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ... Ross Robert Barnett (January 22, 1898 – November 6, 1987) was the Democratic Governor of the U.S. state of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964. ... The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Major General Edwin Anderson Walker (November 10, 1909 - October 31, 1993) was a member of the United States Army notable for his right wing political views and for being the target of Lee Harvey Oswald. ...

All-white juries twice that year deadlocked on De La Beckwith's guilt, thus allowing him to escape justice. Ratchet: Deadlocked is a videogame being developed by insomniac games ...

The murder and subsequent miscarriage of justice caused a social uproar, and musician Bob Dylan wrote the song "Only a Pawn in Their Game" about Evers and his assassin. The song's lyrics read: "The day that Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet that he caught, they lowered him down as a king." Nina Simone took on the topic in her song "Mississippi Goddam". Eudora Welty's short story Where is the Voice Coming From in which the speaker is the imagined assassin of Medgar Evers was printed in "The New Yorker." Phil Ochs wrote the songs "Too Many Martyrs" and "Another Country" in response to the killing. Matthew Jones and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Freedom Singers paid tribute to Evers in the haunting "Ballad of Medgar Evers." Malvina Reynolds mentioned "the shot in Evers' back" in her song "It Isn't Nice". More recently, rapper Immortal Technique asks if a diamond is "worth the blood of Malcolm and Medgar Evers?" in the song "Crossing the Boundary" and "Bury The Living", a left-leaning hardcore punk band from Memphis, Tennessee mentioned Evers along with Emmett Till in the song "In the State of Mississippi" on their 2003 album, "Burn This Fucking Nightmare." The Rza sang on "I Can't Go to Sleep" by Wu-Tang Clan, "Medgar took one to the skull for integrating college." This article is about the recording artist. ... Only a Pawn in their Game is a song written by Bob Dylan about the assassins of civil rights activist Medgar Evers. ... Eunice Kathleen Waymon, better known by her stage name Nina Simone (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist. ... Mississippi Goddam is a song written and performed by United States singer and pianist Nina Simone. ... Philip David Ochs (December 19, 1940–April 9, 1976) was a U.S. protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer), songwriter, musician and recording artist who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice. ... The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (or SNCC, pronounced snick) was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. ... Ear to the Ground, a posthumous release of Malvina Reynolds recordings on the Folkways label, 2000. ... Felipe Coronel (born February 19, 1978), better known as Immortal Technique, is a hip hop MC and political activist. ... Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, also known as Detroit Red and Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Omaha, Nebraska, May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965 in New York City) was a Muslim Minister and National Spokesman for the Nation of Islam. ... Hardcore punk, now commonly known as hardcore, is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in North America in the late 1970s. ... For other uses, see Memphis (disambiguation). ... Emmett Louis Bobo Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955) was a fourteen year old African-American boy from Chicago, Illinois brutally murdered [1] in Money, Mississippi, a small town in the states Delta region. ... Wu-Tang redirects here. ...

In 1994, thirty years after the two previous trials had failed to reach a verdict, Beckwith was again brought to trial based on new evidence concerning statements he made to others. During the trial, the body of Evers was exhumed from his grave for autopsy, and found to be in a surprisingly good state of preservation as a result of embalming. Beckwith was finally convicted of murder on February 5, 1994, after living as a free man for three decades after the killing. Beckwith appealed unsuccessfully, and died in prison in January 2001. In law, a verdict indicates the judgment of a case before a court of law. ... This article is about the medical procedure. ... Embalming, in most modern cultures, is the art and science of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall decomposition and to make them suitable for display at a funeral. ... is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ...

Before Medgar Evers' body was reburied, a new funeral was staged for Evers. This permitted his children, who were toddlers when he was assassinated and had very little memory of him, to have a chance to see him. The new funeral was covered on HBO's Autopsy series.

Legacy

Evers' legacy has been kept alive in a variety of ways. In 1970, Medgar Evers College was established in Brooklyn, New York as part of the City University of New York. In 1983, a made-for-television movie, For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story starring Howard Rollins Jr. was aired, celebrating the life and career of Medgar Evers, and on June 28, 1992, he was immortalized in Jackson with a statue. Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Medgar Evers College (MEC) is a college campus (offering bachelors and associates degrees) of the City University of New York. ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... The City University of New York (CUNY; acronym: IPA pronunciation: ), is the public university system of New York City. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... “Telefilm” redirects here. ... Howard Ellsworth Rollins, Jr. ... is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ...

The 1996 film Ghosts of Mississippi tells the story of the 1994 trial, in which a District Attorney's office prosecutor, Robert Delaughter, successfully retried the case, and won. The year 1996 in film involved some significant events. ... Ghosts of Mississippi is a 1996 drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg and James Woods. ...

Evers' wife, Myrlie, became a noted activist in her own right later in life, eventually serving as chairwoman of the NAACP. Medgar's brother Charles returned to Jackson in July 1963 and served briefly in his slain brother's place. Charles Evers remained involved in Mississippi Civil Rights for years to come. He resides in Jackson. Myrlie Evers-Arias (born March 17, 1933, nee Myrlie Beasley in Vicksburg, Mississippi) is an African American activist. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential hate organizations in the United States. ...

Bob Dylan refers to the killing of Medgar Evans on "Only a Pawn in Their Game," on his 1964 album 'The Times They Are A-Changin' '. This article is about the recording artist. ...

Children

On February 18, 2001, Myrlie and Medgar's oldest son, Darrell Kenyatta Evers (b. 1963 - d. 2001), died, leaving a wife and son.^[3] Their two surviving children are Reena Denise Evers and James Van Dyke Evers (b. January 10, 1960).^[4] is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito, T.R.M. Howard: Pragmatism over Strict Integrationist Ideology in the Mississippi Delta, 1942-1954 in Glenn Feldman, ed., Before Brown: Civil Rights and White Backlash in the Modern South (2004 book), 68-95.
• Jonathan Birnbaum and Clarence Taylor, eds. Civil Rights Since 1787: A Reader on the Black Struggle (New York University Press: 2000) ISBN 0-8147-8215-9 (pp. 355-59 (Myrlie Evers with William Peters reprint "Missisissippi Murders"), 522 (Fannie Lou Hamer comment).
• Brown, Jennie. Medgar Evers. Los Angeles: Melrose Square Pub. Co., 1994.
• John Dittmer, Local People: the Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi (1994 book).
• Evers, Myrlie B., and William Peters. For Us, the Living. 1st ed. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1967; Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996.
• Jackson, James E. At the funeral of Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi: A Tribute in Tears and a Thrust for Freedom. New York: Publisher’s New Press, 1963.
• Massengill, Reed. Portrait of a Racist: The Man Who Killed Medgar Evers? New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994.
• Nossiter, Adam. Of Long Memory: Mississippi and the Murder of Medgar Evers. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1994; Da Capo Press, 2002.
• Charles M. Payne, I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle (1995 book).
• Salter, John R. Jackson, Mississippi: An American Chronicle of Struggle and Schism. Foreword by R. Edwin King, Jr. Hicksville, N.Y.: Exposition Press, 1979.
• Remembering Medgar Evers—For a New Generation: A Commemoration. Developed by the Civil Rights Research and Documentation Project, Afro-American Studies Program, The University of Mississippi. Oxford, MS: distributed by Heritage Publications in cooperation with the Mississippi Network for Black History and Heritage, 1988.
• Vollers, Maryanne. Ghosts of Mississippi: The Murder of Medgar Evers, The Trials of Byron de la Beckwith, and the Haunting of the New South. Boston: Little, Brown, 1995.

Notes

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...

External links

• Medgar Evers entry at AfricanAmericans.com
• Medgar Evers in the U.S. Federal Census American Civil Rights Pioneers

• Medgar Evers at the Internet Movie Database