The Ridge Historical Society
February – Black History Month –#5
By Carol Flynn
Our fifth person of distinction with a school on the Ridge named for him to be profiled for Black History Month is Medgar Evers.
Medgar Wiley Evers (1925-1963) was a civil rights activist in Mississippi who worked to end segregation and expand opportunities for Blacks, including the enforcement of voting rights.
Evers was a World War II veteran who served in the segregated U.S. Army, rising to the rank of sergeant. His unit participated in the D-Day invasion of Europe.
As a field worker for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), his first assignment was to investigate the murder of Chicagoan Emmet Till, the 14-year old African American boy kidnapped and killed for flirting with a white woman in 1955 in Mississippi. Evers helped locate and protect witnesses.
Evers was assassinated outside his home by a white supremacist. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
It took thirty-one years for justice for his murder. All-white juries refused twice to convict his murderer in the 1960s. In 1991, a racially mixed jury found the un-repentant murderer guilty and sentenced him to life in prison.
The Medgar Evers School at 9811 S. Lowe Street opened in 1969.