Ann Weil - Medgar Evers (American Biographies)

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2013 Heinemann Library an imprint of Capstone Global Library, LLC Chicago, Illinois

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Edited by Abby Colich, Megan Cotugno, and Laura Hensley
Designed by Philippa Jenkins
Original illustrations Capstone Global Library Limited 2011
Illustrated by Oxford Designers and Illustrators
Picture research by Tracy Cummins
Originated by Capstone Global Library Limited

16 15 14 13
10 9 8 7 6 5 4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Medgar Evers / Ann Weil.
p. cm.(American biographies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4329-6454-2 (hbk.)ISBN 978-1- 4329-6465-8 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-1-4846-1091-6 (eBook)
1. Evers, Medgar Wiley, 1925- 1963Juvenile literature. 2. African American civil rights workersMississippiJackson BiographyJuvenile literature. 3. Civil rights workersMississippiJacksonBiography Juvenile literature. 4. National Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleBiography Juvenile literature. 5. Civil rights movements MississippiHistory20th centuryJuvenile literature. 6. African AmericansCivil rights MississippiHistory20th centuryJuvenile literature. 7. MississippiRace relationsJuvenile literature. 8. Jackson (Miss.)Biography--Juvenile literature. I. Title.

F349.J13W45 2012

323.092dc23 2011037578

[B]

Acknowledgments
The author and publishers are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material: akg-images: p. 13 (RIA Nowosti); AP Images: pp. 9, 17 (Rogelio V. Solis), 22 (Robert Jordan), 32 (Francis H. Mitchell/Ebony Collection), 37 (Jim Bourdier), 39; Corbis: pp. 10 ( CORBIS), 20 (Joseph Schwartz), 23 ( Bettmann), 26 ( Bettmann), 27 ( Bettmann), 34 ( Bettmann), 40 ( CORBIS); Getty Images: pp. 5 (Michael Ochs Archives), 15 (Ed Clark//Time Life Pictures), 25, 28 (Don Cravens/Time Life Pictures), 31 (PhotoQuest), 35 (FPG), 41 (Chip Somodevilla); Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division: pp. 8, 12, 14, 16, 19; news.com: p. 33 (JAY CLARKE/MIAMI HERALD); The Granger Collection: p. 6.

Cover photograph of Medgar Evers reproduced with permission from Getty Images (Michael Ochs Archive).

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders of material reproduced in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in subsequent printings if notice is given to the publisher.

Disclaimer
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Contents

Some words are shown in bold, like this.
These words are explained in the glossary.

A Civil Rights Hero and Martyr

There are many heroes in U.S. history. These men and women risked their lives to make the country a better place for everyone. Medgar Evers was one of these heroes.

Mississippi: black and white

Evers was an African American, or black American, dedicated to the idea of racial justice, at a time when blacks in his home state of Mississippi were far from free. Black people had the legal right to vote. But men with guns blocked them from voting. Blacks could not sit at a public lunch counter. They could not swim at a public pool. All blacks were at risk of brutal attacks by white racists. In Mississippi a white man could kill a black man without fear of going to jail.

A fight for freedom

Medgar Evers showed extraordinary courage by speaking out against a system of inequality that so many took for granted. His work to secure voting rights for black people inspired fear and hatred among white extremists, who wanted to keep blacks in their place.

Evers knew that these people had put him on a death list in the 1950s. Still, he persisted in his work up until the day he was shot and killed outside his home in Mississippi on June 12, 1963. When Evers was assassinated, this made him one of the rst martyrs of the civil rights movement.

Medgar Evers once said, You can kill a man, but you cant kill an idea.

Growing Up in Mississippi

Medgar Evers was born on July 2, 1925, in Decatur, Mississippi. His family roots were in the area. Medgars fathers parents were freed slaves and owned land. His grandfather, Mike Evers, owned more than 300 acres (121 hectares) of land. But whites had used legal tricks to steal most of that land.