Medgar Evers (1925-1963). NAACP Activist and First Martyr of the Civil Rights Era.
After volunteering for Army service and participating in the Normandy landings during WWII, Medgar and his brothers registered to vote. On election day, they, along with other black voters, were blocked at the polls by some 200 armed whites. Consequently, Medgar resolved to join the NAACP in Mississippi.
As an NAACP Civil Rights activist he spoke out for fair-employment opportunities for blacks, desegregating public accommodations, and the right to vote. He was instrumental in gathering evidence and witnesses to testify in the Emmitt Till murder case.
These and similar actions made Evers a target for the Ku-Klux-Klan and other segregationists. In a backlash against widespread agitation for civil rights, the KKK was again revived during the 1960s to become just as virulent as it had been in the decade after the Civil War.
After several prior attempts, Evers was returning home from a nighttime meeting when shot in the back and killed outside his home on June 12, 1963, by Klan member, Byron De La Beckwith (formerly known as James Woods).
Above, NAACP’s publication The CRISIS features Evers for its June-July issue after his assassination.