Medgar Evers Remembered Week of Assassination as Tougaloo College and National Park Service Finalize Plans for Monument

Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers survived the Normandy invasion only to return home to Jackson, Mississippi where years later while working for the NAACP he was gunned down in the driveway of his home by a white supremacist. The brave warrior who risked all for a country that marginalized his allegiance with persistent racism will be remembered Wednesday, which marks 56 years after his assassination.

This is also the week Tougaloo College and the National Park Service will meet to finalize the plans involved in transferring responsibility of the Evers Home as a newly-designated National Monument from the private HBCU to the federal government.

“The designation of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home as a national monument is the ultimate recognition of the distinction of the contributions they made to the progress of our state and nation,” says Dr. Beverly Hogan , president of the private HBCU founded near Jackson in 1869. “This designation brings heightened visibility to their Home, their courageous work to change Mississippi from a closed society to an open society and the noble legacy they leave for us and succeeding generations.”

Myrlie Evers, the widow of Mississippi’s first NAACP field secretary, gave the Home to Tougaloo in 1993. After her husband’s assassination, Evers moved the family to California. Years later, she served as the national chairwoman for the NAACP.

“Medgar Evers spent a great deal of his time on the campus of Tougaloo College organizing and devising strategies for voter education, voting registration and the move forward for an integrated society,” Hogan states. “Tougaloo was the epicenter for the Civil Rights Movement and the safe haven for people like Medgar Evers leading the fight for a more just and humane world.”

For neighbors, the Evers home is recognized for its significance. Reports indicate some of the neighboring homes may be purchased as part of a historic district. A 14-year-old boy riding his bike through the area described Evers work as “good” and expressed pride in his courage.

The National Park Service will now oversee the home, utilizing federal funds to continue preservation efforts.

Hogan adds, “Tougaloo College has been supportive from the genesis of the planning for the designation. We cooperated with Congressman Bennie Thompson who worked for years to help make this happen. The Home will continue to provide interpretative and educational programming regarding the life and legacy of Medgar and Myrlie Evers and their contributions to advance a more just and humane society.”