This Day in History: Civil Rights Leader Medgar Evers Assassinated in 1963 at Age 37

On June 12, 1963, civil rights leader Medgar W. Evers was assassinated by a white supremacist outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi, at the age of 37.

Evers began his involvement with the NAACP in 1952 while working for a Black-owned insurance company in the Mississippi Delta. As the first field secretary for the NAACP in Mississippi, he focused on recruiting members and investigating racial violence.

Medgar Evers, Mississippi field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), poses for a photo, Aug. 9, 1955, in Jackson, Miss. He was assassinated outside his home in Jackson on June 12, 1963, as a result of his work to promote racial equality, voting rights and social justice. (AP Photo, File)

He also spearheaded voter registration efforts and organized mass protests. Evers and his family were frequent targets of white supremacist violence.

He was laid to rest on June 19, 1963, at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., where he was honored with a full military burial attended by over 3,000 mourners.

Medgar Evers, Mississippi field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is seen in this 1963 photo. On Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, Mississippi’s congressional delegation sent a letter urging President Joe Biden to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to civil rights leader Evers. He was assassinated outside his home in Jackson, Miss., on June 12, 1963, as a result of his work to promote racial equality, voting rights and social justice. (AP Photo/File)

Click play to listen to the AURN News report from Clay Cane. Follow @claycane & @aurnonline for more.

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