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NAACP Field Secretary Medgar W. Evers
Medgar W. Evers (1925–1963), the son of a farmer, was born in Decatur, Mississippi. After graduating from Alcorn Agriculture and Mechanical College in 1952, he went to work for a black insurance company in the Mississippi Delta. At the same time Evers began organizing for the NAACP. In 1954 he became the NAACP's first field secretary in the state. His main duties were recruiting new members and investigating incidents of racial violence. Evers also led voter registration drives and mass protests, organized boycotts, fought segregation, and helped James Meredith enter the University of Mississippi. In May 1963 his home was bombed after he stepped up protests in Jackson, Mississippi. On June 11, he was murdered in his driveway. |