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BLACK IN TIME: A Moment In OUR History (104 hits)

Medgar Evers, Byron De La Beckwith

On February 5, 1994, Ku Klux Klan Member, Byron De La Beckwith Was Finally Convicted For The Murder Of Civil Rights Leader, Medgar Evers, Who He Killed 31 Years Earlier.

De La Beckwith Was Tried Twice For Murder In 1964, Before All-White Juries. Both Trials Ended In Mistrials. A Third Trial in 1994, Before A Jury Of Eight Blacks And Four Whites, Convicted De La Beckwith Of Evers' Murder. He Was Sentenced To Life In Prison. He Died At Age 80, In 2001.

On June 12, 1963, 37- Year Old, Medgar Wylie Evers, While In The Driveway Of His Jackson, Mississippi Home, Was Shot In The Back And Killed.

A Native Of Decatur, Mississippi And A World War II Veteran, Medgar Evers Served As The NAACP's Field Secretary. He Was A Key Figure In The Desegregation Efforts Taking Place In Mississippi And Was Involved In Investigating The Murders Of African Americans In The State.

Evers Worked For A Time As An Insurance Salesman. Through That Job, He Was Exposed To The Plight Of Poor Blacks. He Decided To Stop Selling Insurance And Devote Himself To The NAACP Full-Time.

Medgar Evers Was The First Major Civil Rights Leader To Be Murdered. He Is Buried In Arlington National Cemetery, In Arlington, VA.

The Death Of Medgar Evers Prompted President John F. Kennedy To Ask Congress For A National Civil Rights Bill. President Lyndon Johnson Signed The Bill Into Law In 1964.

"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.