Medgar Evers
Civil Rights Leader
July 2, 1924-June 12, 1963
Age 38
Cause of Demise: Assassination
Born in Mississippi, Medgar Evers was instrumental in the Civil Rights struggle
of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.
After returning home from World War II, Medgar enrolled in Mississippi’s
Alcorn A & M College, graduating in 1952. He began to travel his home state
selling insurance, but after continually experiencing the racism then common
in the American South, Medgar grew active in the NAACP.
Medgar traveled through Mississippi, forming chapters of the NAACP and organizing
boycotts against gas stations the wouldn’t allow African American to use
restroom, as well as other businesses. In spite of growing threats against his
life, Medgar continued to speak out and organize protests and boycotts.
In 1954, the year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against school segregation, Medgar
applied for and was denied admission to The University of Mississippi Law School.
The action led to the NAACP appointing Medgar Mississippi’s first field
secretary.
Acting in that capacity, Medgar started to investigate and call national attention
to violent crimes committed against African Americans, and seeking ways to prevent
them. He was also instrumental gaining the admission of the first African American
into the University of Mississippi, though the ensuing riot left two dead.
A peaceful man who chose to continue living in Mississippi in spite of increasing
death threats, Medgar’s life was ended by an assassin’s bullet one
evening in the driveway of his home. Medgar was shot in the back.
In spite of recovering a weapon with fingerprints, it took 31 years and three
trials to convict Medgar’s killer.