January 14, 2025
Mississippi was Ground Zero for the Civil Rights Movement, and important history is everywhere down here. I visited one piece of hallowed ground on January 14 when I toured the Evers home. It was an honor to walk through the house of a man who dedicated, and ultimately gave, his life to the advancement of Black people.
A WWII veteran who had fought at Normandy, Evers became Mississippi’s NAACP field director and organized boycotts and voter registrations. He organized campaigns to integrate parks and public transit. White supremacists tried to run him over, and they firebombed his home. On June 11, 1963, Byron De La Beckwith hid in bushes across the street from Evers’ house and shot Medgar as Medgar stood in his carport unloading a box of t-shirts from his car. Beckwith’s rifle and fingerprints were found at the scene, but Beckwith was not convicted of Evers’ murder until 1994.
Most of the photos below are of the Evers’ home. Bathroom fixtures are mostly original. The bedrooms are recreations. Note how beds were placed on the floor away from windows for the sake of safety.
Two photos are of a small garden on the corner where today’s visitors can park so as not to clutter the residential neighborhood. It’s currently winter, hence the temporary lack of blooming vegetation.
In Jackson, I also visited the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Museum of Mississippi History. Both museums are in one giant building, and both have excellent interactive exhibits. The Civil Rights Museum is phenomenal, thorough, and necessarily graphic in some areas. The large and colorful displays are well organized and so incredibly informative. Definitely recommend visiting. Plan for a whole day.
