# Medgar Evers

> African-American civil rights activist (1925-1963)

**Wikidata**: [Q717985](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q717985)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/medgar-evers

## Summary
Medgar Evers was an African-American civil rights activist who served as the first field secretary of the NAACP in Mississippi from 1954 until his assassination in 1963. He organized voter registration drives, economic boycotts, and investigations into racial violence, becoming a prominent figure in the fight against segregation and injustice in the American South.

## Biography
- Born: July 2, 1925, in Decatur, Mississippi
- Nationality: United States
- Education: Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Alcorn State University), University of Mississippi School of Law (attended)
- Known for: Civil rights activism, NAACP field secretary, anti-segregation campaigns
- Employer(s): NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
- Field(s): Civil rights, social justice, community organizing

## Contributions
Medgar Evers organized and led numerous civil rights initiatives in Mississippi during the 1950s and early 1960s. As NAACP field secretary, he coordinated voter registration drives across the state, investigated racially motivated murders including the Emmett Till case, and organized economic boycotts against businesses that practiced segregation. He worked to desegregate the University of Mississippi when he attempted to enroll in its law school in 1954. Evers also helped establish new NAACP chapters throughout Mississippi and trained local leaders in nonviolent protest techniques. His activism included organizing the Biloxi wade-ins to challenge segregated beaches and supporting the Freedom Riders who challenged interstate bus segregation.

## FAQs
**What was Medgar Evers's role in the NAACP?**
Medgar Evers served as the first field secretary of the NAACP in Mississippi from 1954 until his assassination in 1963. In this position, he directed all civil rights activities in the state, including organizing voter registration drives, investigating racial violence, and coordinating boycotts against segregated businesses.

**How did Medgar Evers contribute to the desegregation of education?**
Evers attempted to desegregate the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1954 by applying for admission, though he was denied. His application became part of the legal strategy that eventually led to James Meredith's successful enrollment in 1962. He also supported local efforts to desegregate public schools in Mississippi communities.

**What were some of Medgar Evers's most significant campaigns?**
Evers organized the investigation into the murder of Emmett Till in 1955, coordinated economic boycotts against Jackson businesses that practiced segregation, and helped organize the Biloxi wade-ins to challenge segregated beaches. He also supported the Freedom Riders and worked to establish new NAACP chapters throughout Mississippi.

**How did Medgar Evers die?**
Medgar Evers was assassinated on June 12, 1963, outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi. He was shot in the back by Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist, as he returned home from an NAACP meeting. He died at the age of 37.

## Why They Matter
Medgar Evers's work fundamentally transformed the civil rights movement in Mississippi and served as a catalyst for national change. His strategic organizing of voter registration drives helped lay the groundwork for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, while his investigations into racial violence brought national attention to the brutality of segregation. Evers's assassination became a turning point that galvanized support for civil rights legislation and inspired a new generation of activists. His commitment to nonviolent resistance while facing constant threats demonstrated extraordinary courage that continues to inspire social justice movements today. The extensive documentation he gathered on racial violence provided crucial evidence for future legal challenges to segregation and discrimination.

## Notable For
- First NAACP field secretary in Mississippi, establishing the organization's presence in the most racially hostile state
- Investigation of the Emmett Till murder case in 1955, bringing national attention to racial violence
- Organizing economic boycotts against segregated businesses in Jackson, Mississippi
- Supporting the Freedom Riders and coordinating their safety in Mississippi
- Attempting to desegregate the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1954
- Assassination that became a catalyst for the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Posthumous awarding of the Spingarn Medal in 1963
- Designation of his Jackson home as a National Historic Landmark
- Burial with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery
- Inspiration for numerous books, films, and songs about the civil rights movement

## Body
### Early Life and Military Service
Medgar Wiley Evers was born on July 2, 1925, in Decatur, Mississippi, as the third of five children in a farming family. He grew up experiencing the harsh realities of Jim Crow segregation in rural Mississippi. During World War II, Evers served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945, participating in the Normandy invasion and fighting in Europe. His military service and exposure to less segregated environments during the war influenced his later commitment to civil rights activism.

### Education and Early Career
After his military discharge, Evers attended Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Alcorn State University), graduating in 1952 with a degree in business administration. While at Alcorn, he distinguished himself as a leader, serving as president of his junior class, student body president, and captain of the debate team. He married Myrlie Beasley, also an Alcorn student, in 1951. After graduation, Evers briefly worked as an insurance salesman for Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Company, where he became aware of the economic exploitation of African Americans in the insurance industry.

### NAACP Leadership
In 1954, Evers was appointed as the first field secretary of the NAACP in Mississippi, a position he held until his assassination in 1963. Based in Jackson, he established the NAACP's state headquarters and built a network of local chapters throughout Mississippi. His work involved extensive travel across the state to organize voter registration drives, investigate racial violence, and support local civil rights initiatives. Evers faced constant threats and violence, with his home being targeted multiple times and requiring around-the-clock security protection.

### Major Campaigns and Investigations
Evers's most significant investigations included the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy lynched in Money, Mississippi. He gathered evidence and coordinated witnesses for the trial, though the all-white jury acquitted the accused killers. In Jackson, he organized economic boycotts against white-owned businesses that refused to hire African Americans or serve Black customers. He also supported the 1961 Freedom Rides, providing bail money and coordinating legal defense for the riders who were arrested in Jackson. In 1963, he helped organize the Biloxi wade-ins, where protesters challenged segregated beaches on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

### Attempt to Integrate Higher Education
In 1954, the same year the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education, Evers applied to the University of Mississippi School of Law. His application was rejected, but the attempt became part of the broader legal strategy to desegregate higher education in Mississippi. Although Evers did not pursue the case further himself, his application contributed to the legal groundwork that eventually led to James Meredith's successful enrollment at Ole Miss in 1962, an event Evers actively supported.

### Assassination and Legacy
On June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers was assassinated outside his Jackson home by Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the White Citizens' Council. The assassination occurred just hours after President John F. Kennedy delivered a nationally televised address calling civil rights a "moral issue." Beckwith was tried twice in 1964, but both all-white juries deadlocked. He was finally convicted in a third trial in 1994, 31 years after the murder. Evers's death sparked widespread outrage and became a catalyst for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. His widow, Myrlie Evers-Williams, continued his civil rights work and later became chairwoman of the NAACP. In 1970, Alcorn State University named its main library after Evers, and in 1992, the city of Jackson established the Medgar Evers Boulevard Library. The Medgar Evers House Museum in Jackson preserves his home and legacy, while numerous schools, streets, and buildings across the country bear his name. In 1995, he was posthumously awarded the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, and in 2017, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

## References

1. [Source](https://web.archive.org/web/20120204102602/http://www.africawithin.com/bios/medgar_evers.htm)
2. [Source](https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/evers-medgar-1925-1963/)
3. [Source](https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/index.html#/arlington-national/)
4. Find a Grave
5. [Source](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Spingarn-Medal)
6. [Source](https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47639)
7. BlackPast.org
8. International Standard Name Identifier
9. Virtual International Authority File
10. CiNii Research
11. IMDb
12. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
13. SNAC
14. BnF authorities
15. Encyclopedia of African American History 1896 to the Present
16. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
17. [Medgar Wiley Evers | Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL2729337A/Medgar_Wiley_Evers?merge=true&duplicates=OL6926159A&mrid=65016)