Medgar Evers

Last week, President Biden named nineteen Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients, including posthumous recognition of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. He was the first NAACP Field Secretary in Mississippi. 

Mr. Evers worked to set up an NAACP office there. In the early 1960s, he organized high-profile boycotts of merchants in Jackson. In 1962, he instrumentalized the campaign to admit African American student James Meredith to the University of Mississippi.

Medgar Evers fought for his country in World War II and returned home to lead the fight against segregation in Mississippi. He was 37 when he was murdered at his home by Byron De La Beckwith.