Medgar Evers is Assassinated

Medgar Evers was shot in the back by sniper Byron De La Beckwith outside his Jackson home just after midnight on June 12, 1963. Evers collapsed in the carport. He died at the hospital. The shooting came hours after President Kennedy announced on national television that he would send sweeping civil rights legislation to Congress. Like Emmett Till, his death provoked deep sorrow and fierce outrage. Once again, the national spotlight turned on Mississippi.

Pictured: A black and white photograph of the funeral procession following the service for Medgar Evers. In the second row from the front, civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Roy Wilkins can be seen.

Credit: Flip Shulke Archives/Getty Images