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Myrlie Louise Evers-Williams

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@ National Portrait Gallery

Description

In May 1964, slain civil rights leader and World War II veteran Medgar Evers was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery as his widow, Myrlie Evers; the couple's children; and hundreds of mourners looked on. A committed activist for justice, Medgar Evers became the NAACP's field secretary for Mississippi in 1954 and was spearheading a multifaceted campaign to end segregation in the state capital of Jackson when he was felled by rifle fire from white supremacist Bryon de la Beckwith on June 12, 1963. Arrested for Evers's murder, Beckwith bragged about the killing but was freed when all-white juries deadlocked after two trials in 1964. Myrlie Evers never abandoned hope that her husband's killer would be brought to justice, and the case was reopened in 1990 largely due to her efforts. This time, Beckwith was convicted and sentenced in 1994 to life in prison.
Type:
Image
Format:
Gelatin Silver Print
Rights:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Frances O. Tames
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Record Contributed By

National Portrait Gallery

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution