06/12/2026
Medgar Evers was assassinated outside his Jackson, Mississippi home on June 12, 1963. Hours earlier, President John F. Kennedy had delivered a televised address calling for sweeping civil rights reform. Evers’ murder shocked the nation, galvanizing the fight for equality and directly propelling the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.Evers' legacy as the first NAACP Field Secretary in Mississippi continues to be honored today.
Evers was shot in the back by white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith. Though all-white juries deadlocked in 1964 trials, Beckwith was ultimately convicted in 1994, bringing closure after more than 30 years.
Following full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, Evers was posthumously awarded the NAACP Spingarn Medal in 1963.
His former residence in Jackson is now preserved as the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument.
