Contents
Medgar Evers
Organising civil-rights campaigns in Mississippi before his assassination in 1963.
Voter registration · Emmett Till investigation
- Born
- 2 July 1925
- Birthplace
- Decatur, United States
- Died
- 12 June 1963
More people
Medgar Evers
Medgar Evers was the NAACP’s first Mississippi field secretary, working for voting rights, school integration and investigations of racist violence.
Early life
Segregated childhood
Grew up in a farming family and attended segregated schools.
Army and college
Served in the Second World War before studying business administration at Alcorn.
Career
- 1952
Insurance work
Worked in Mound Bayou while becoming active in civil-rights organising.
- 1954
NAACP appointment
Became Mississippi field secretary.
- 1963
Assassination
Was murdered outside his Jackson home.
Campaigns
Voter registration
Helped organise Black Mississippians seeking access to the ballot.
Emmett Till investigation
Worked to uncover evidence about the teenager’s lynching.
University integration
Supported James Meredith’s entry to the University of Mississippi.
Beyond activism
Family partnership
Married Myrlie Beasley; she became an important civil-rights leader herself.
Delayed conviction
His killer, Byron De La Beckwith, was convicted of murder in 1994.
Sources & photo credit
Wikipedia biography and references ↗Further biography and career ↗Photo: Unknown; distributed by AP. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
