Medgar and Myrlie Evers: A Legacy of Courage and Activism

Medgar Evers dedicated his life to advancing the cause for civil rights for Mississippians and all Americans. He believed in the individual’s moral duty to challenge injustice. As Mississippi field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1954 to 1963, Evers was involved in every major civil rights action during his career with the NAACP until his assassination in the driveway of his home on June 12, 1963.
Following his death Myrlie Evers took up the torch and carried on her husband’s legacy. She became a powerful voice, advocating for change, and calling for justice for her husband and all those who had been victims of racial violence. She went on to become chair of the national NAACP board of directors in 1995 and then founded the Medgar Evers Institute in 1998 to preserve and promote her husband’s legacy and to work for civil and human rights. In 2002 she donated the Evers papers to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and was instrumental in the 2017 opening of the Two Mississippi Museums.
Learn more about their contributions to civil rights at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, and visit the William F. Winter Archives and History Building to view the Evers Papers.
Produced with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.