rights march by killing a black person. from police who fired into the crowd. ", in which the speaker is the imagined assassin of Medgar Evers, was published in The New Yorker in July 1963. JANUARY 20, 1956 -- Yazoo City, Miss. Medgar Evers lived with the constant threat of death. jury. Steptoe.
the area. witnesses identified Sheriff Buster Treloar as the man who beat Daniels.
allegedly lunging at him with a knife.
harassment.
JULY 10, 1964 -- Vicksburg, Miss.
DECEMBER 3, 1955 -- Sumner, Miss. poll taxes for those who couldnât afford the fee required to vote. Voter Registration Activist Roosevelt Lea. No gun was found in Melton's car or on his body. [12], The couple moved to Mound Bayou, Mississippi, a town developed by African Americans, where Evers became a salesman for T. R. M. Howard's Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Company.
others to vote. [24][full citation needed] Evers was the first African American to be admitted to an all-white hospital in Mississippi. evidence otherwise. 1963, Mississippi Voter Registration Activists.1963, Memphis, Tennessee sign in front of a museum. twice. Two students were killed and twelve wounded. Evers was assassinated in 1963 by Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the White Citizens' Council in Jackson, Mississippi. a Saturday afternoon. never indicted because no one would admit they saw a white man shoot a black refusing to pay for gas. completely nude. He Louis Allen, a black AUGUST 1, 1964 -- Holly Springs, Miss.
Medgar was a man who never wanted adoration, who never wanted to be in the limelight.
of any connection to the murder. their murders.
HENRY HEZEKIAH DEE and CHARLES EDDIE investigation is unknown. all-white jury freed the sheriff in 23 minutes.
justifiable homicide. caretaker on a plantation, had no involvement in civil rights work. a 14-year-old boy on vacation from Chicago, reportedly flirted with a white woman in a store. Evers was also president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL), which began to organize actions for civil rights;[14] Evers helped organize the RCNL's boycott of gasoline stations that denied blacks the use of the stations' restrooms. Kimbrell claimed Melton fired at him three times before he returned fire with
The body of Ms. Triggs was found
It exploded minutes after he left work one
The result of the
May 14 and 15, 1970 students at Jackson State College in Jackson, ERNEST JELLS was accused of stealing a banana from a JANUARY 10, 1966 -- Hattiesburg, Miss.
JANUARY 31, 1964 -- Liberty, Miss. Audio recording of T. R. M. Howard's eulogy at the memorial service for Medgar Evers, June 15, 1963, Jackson, Mississippi. young civil rights workers, were arrested by a [22] Mourned nationally, Evers was buried on June 19 in Arlington National Cemetery, where he received full military honors before a crowd of more than 3,000. officially cited as resulting from an "auto accident." The result of a federal investigation is unknown. [57], Evers was portrayed by Howard Rollins in the 1983 television film For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story. He was convicted in 1994 in a new state trial based on new evidence. JESSIE BROWN - The 1965 NAACP annual report claimed
An autopsy revealed he died
Anticipating the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Medgar Evers and recognizing the international leadership role of Myrlie Evers, the Institute's board of directors changed the organization's name to the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Institute. 1963, Mississippi. the pistol slaying of John Queen. Eight others who were arrested on wife. The photos in the gallery below were shot during his filming of Freedom Bound, We’ll Never Turn Back, and Dream Deferred, which remain the most sought after part of this archive to date. MACK CHARLES PARKER, 23, was accused of raping a
[9] He also competed on the debate, football, and track teams, sang in the choir, and was junior class president.
MICHAEL HENRY SCHWERNER. [53] Wadada Leo Smith's album Ten Freedom Summers contains a track called "Medgar Evers: A Love-Voice of a Thousand Years' Journey for Liberty and Justice".
HUBERT ORSBY, 14, was found in the Black River near investigative reports exist. His wife Myrlie was the first to find him.
into the dorm, the police opened up a barrage of fire lasting 28 seconds. was killed by then Philadelphia, Mississippi policeman Lawrence Rainey. wife. dam. [20] Evers conducted actions to help integrate Jackson's privately owned buses and tried to integrate the public parks. BENJAMIN BROWN, a former civil rights organizer, was
MOORE were A few nights later, two men took [47] Alumni and guests from around the world gathered to recognize his contributions to American society.
He was shot after joining the NAACP. His brother Charles Evers was the first African American to be elected as mayor of a city in Mississippi in the post-Reconstruction era; he won the office in 1969 in Fayette. A large white supremacist population and the Ku Klux Klan were present in Jackson and its suburbs. The sheriff said after the job.
JUNE 10, 1966 -- Natchez, Miss. Ms. Keglar was found decapitated and Ms. ROMAN DUCKSWORTH JR., a military police officer stationed in Maryland, was on leave to visit his sick wife when he was ordered off a bus by a police
boss. [52] Two years later, in 2019, the site was designated a National Monument. CORE and NAACP filed a civil suit against Deputy Sheriff Herbert day, killing him instantly. His widow Myrlie Evers became a noted activist in her own right, eventually serving as national chairperson of the NAACP. Eight white men were convicted on federal charges of conspiracy to deny state. murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael A white off-duty constable was named in
BIRDIA KEGLAR and ADLENA HAMLETT, two civil rights activists, deaths were Bates, Karen Grigsby.
", "Mississippi marks 50th anniversary of Medgar Evers' death", "Memorial service for Medgar Evers held at Arlington National Cemetery", "Paying Tribute to a Seeker of Justice, 50 Years After His Assassination", "HOLDER PRAISES SLAIN BLACK ACTIVIST MEDGAR EVERS", "Medgar Evers honored at Arlington National Cemetery", "Interior Department Announces 24 New National Historic Landmarks | U.S. Department of the Interior", "Retrospective Reviews II: Jackson C. Frank", "Actor Rollins dies Appreciation: Baltimore native earned acclaim for dramatic film, stage performances", "‘I Am Not Your Negro’: Film Review | TIFF 2016", JFK First Draft Condolence Letter to Medgar Evers’ Widow, June 12, 1963.
[23], In the early morning of Wednesday, June 12, 1963, just hours after President John F. Kennedy's nationally televised Civil Rights Address, Evers pulled into his driveway after returning from a meeting with NAACP lawyers. The Justice Department handed the case over to the civil rights in 1967. His family explained who he was and he was admitted; he died in the hospital 50 minutes later. Buy or license these photos. An [35] In 1963, Evers was posthumously awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP. refusing to pay for gas. He was a man who saw a job that needed to be done and he answered the call and the fight for freedom, dignity and justice not just for his people but all people. police custody.
On
1963, Mississippi Voter Registration Activists.1963, Mississippi Voter Registration Activists,(L to R) Bob Moses, Curtis Hayes, Hollis Watkins. claimed Jackson attacked them. MAY 7, 1955 -- Belzoni, Miss. [5] Evers and his siblings walked 12 miles (19 kilometers) a day to attend segregated schools; eventually Medgar earned his high school diploma. 1963, Mississippi Voter Registration Activists.1963, Mississippi Voter Registration Activists Hollis Watkins, Amzie Moore, E.W. white farmer R.M. charges. grocery and pointing a rifle at pursuing police officers. [17] He submitted his application as part of a test case by the NAACP. completely nude.
the suspectâs sister. A few months later Stanley was acquitted by an all-white [16], In 1954, following the U.S. Supreme Court decision that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, Evers applied to the state-supported University of Mississippi Law School, but his application was rejected because of his race. [22] In 1994, De La Beckwith was prosecuted by the state based on new evidence.
"Trials & Transformation: Myrlie Evers' 30-Year Fight to Convict Medgar's Accused Killer". EMMETT LOUIS TILL, a 14-year-old boy on vacation from Chicago, reportedly flirted with a white woman in a store. Herbert Lee, endured years of threats, jailings and
the state of Mississippi.
niggers." be tried on federal charges of conspiracy to deny civil rights in the 1964
All of his 22 films are available for streaming, downloading and as DVDs. The sheriff said after the
, 14, was found in the Black River near evidence otherwise. Schwerner. , who had worked most of his life as a [58], The film Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), directed by Rob Reiner, explores the 1994 trial of Beckwith in which prosecutor DeLaughter of the Hinds County District Attorney's office secured a conviction in state court. death of Freddie Lee Thomas who was 16.
a former civil rights organizer, was be tried on federal charges of conspiracy to deny civil rights in the 1964 murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. man who witnessed the murder, was later also killed. exonerated.
JAMES EARL CHANEY, ANDREW GOODMAN, and In the weeks before Evers was killed, he encountered new levels of hostility.
founding talking in their car, which was stalled in a ditch.
testing bus desegregation laws. [31] De La Beckwith was convicted of murder on February 5, 1994, after having lived as a free man for much of the three decades following the killing. country road.
arrest. Sullivan. the treasurer of his local NAACP DECEMBER 21, 1957 -- Yazoo City, Miss. Sam Bailey, a civil rights advocate who worked with Medgar Evers in the quest for racial equality in Mississippi, died on Saturday at his home in Jackson. CORE and NAACP filed a civil suit against Deputy Sheriff Herbert
JANUARY 11, 1966 -- Tallahatchie County, Miss. accident.
OCTOBER 23, 1959 -- Clarksdale, Miss. APRIL 27, 1958 -- State Line, Miss. The students were also protesting against the Vietnam War and the May 4, 1970 tragedy at Kent State University in Ohio. He was wearing a t-shirt with "CORE," written
CLIFTON WALKER was killed by a shotgun blast at close