Medgar Evers

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.