Medgar Wiley Evers (1925 - 1963)

Born 2 Jul 1925 in Decatur, Newton, Mississippi, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 12 Jun 1963 at age 37 in Jackson, Mississippi, United States

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Biography

Medgar Evers is Notable.

Medgar Evers was awarded the Spingarn Medal for outstanding achievement by an African American.

This profile is part of the Mound Bayou, Mississippi One Place Study.

Medgar Evers was a part of the US Civil Rights Activists Movement.

Medgar was a Freemason.

Medgar Evers was an American war veteran, a civil rights activist, and the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. He was assassinated in 1963 by a white supremacist.^[1]

Medgar Wiley Evers was born in Decatur County, Mississippi in 1925 to James Evers and his wife, Jessie M. Wright. ^[2][3] His father worked on the railroad in the 1920s, moved to farming by the 1930s, and was a sawmill worker by the 1940s: he worked many different jobs to provide for his family. Medgar grew up in Decatur, living with his mom and dad, his three sisters, three brothers, and two half-siblings from his mother's first marriage. He went to a segregated school, which meant a twelve mile walk every day until he received his high school diploma.

Not long after high school graduation and the U.S. entering World War II, he enlisted in the military.^[4] He served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945 (age 18-20) and came home a decorated combat veteran of the war. He attained the rank of sergeant and survived the Battle of Normandy,^[1] one of the bloodiest battles of the war. Almost a quarter of a million men were lost in this battle, but in the end the Allied forces held the day.

Returning home from the war, he enrolled in Alcorn (called Agricultural and Mechanical College at the time - now Alcorn State University), and earned a degree in Business Administration in 1952.^[1]

He married Myrlie Beasley on Christmas Eve in 1951,^[1] only months before his graduation. Together they had three children.^[5]

He and Myrlie moved to Mound Bayou, Mississippi and he became an insurance salesman. He was a 32nd-degree freemason in Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction.^[6] He became active in the community, joined the NAACP and the RCNL (Regional Council of Negro Leadership), becoming its president, and was named the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. In 1954, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down segregation in schools, he applied to University of Mississippi Law School as a test case for the NAACP - but was still denied due to his race.^[1]

He began to organize public activist events, such as boycotts, voter drives, protests, even segregated beach wade-ins, that gained the attention of the local white supremacist organizations. In 1963 alone, he faced three significant attempts on his life as he stood up for civil rights. Then June 12, 1963, he was ambushed in his driveway and shot once in the back by Byron De La Beckwith using an Enfield rifle. The bullet passed through his heart, and he was pronounced dead at the hospital an hour later.^[1]

Medgar Evers was given a place of honor among his fellow veterans and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.^[1]

It took 30 years and three trials to convict his murderer, but largely due to the persistence of Myrlie, on February 5, 1994, De La Beckwith was finally convicted and sentenced to life without parole; he died in prison in 2001.^[1]

Medgar Evers has been depicted, memorialized, honored, sculpted, and remembered in a host of books, essays, articles, poems, songs, statues, buildings and films.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Wikipedia contributors, "Medgar Evers," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9MM-CSV : accessed 12 February 2019), Medgar Evers in household of James Evers, Decatur, Newton, Mississippi, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1, sheet 4A, line 29, family 69, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1161; FHL microfilm 2,340,896.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBSK-BLS : 14 March 2018), Medgar Evers in household of Jim Evers, Decatur, Beat 1, Newton, Mississippi, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 51-1, sheet 5B, line 43, family 89, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2053.
4. ↑ "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8Y4-QN2 : 5 December 2014), Medgar W Evers, enlisted 07 Oct 1943, Cp Shelby, Mississippi, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 1263923, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
5. ↑ Wikipedia entry for wife Myrlie Evers Williams
6. ↑ Chico-Leland Stanford Masonic Lodge № 111 Blog, Lodge and Other Masonic News, "Black History Month: Celebrating Famous Black Freemasons!" February 21, 2019, https://www.chicofreemasons.org/lodge-news/2019/2/21/black-history-month-celebrating-famous-black-freemasons

See also:

• "BillionGraves Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2HL-TH4N : 31 May 2018), Medgar W. Evers, died 12 Jun 1963; citing BillionGraves (http://www.billiongraves.com : 2012), Burial at Arlington National Cemetery (Master), Fort Myer Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, United States.

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 20 May 2016, 05:57), entry for Medgar Evers(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LZMR-J9B); contributed by various users.
• Wikipedia: Medgar Evers
• Wikidata: Medgar Evers
• Find A Grave: Memorial #322