This online exhibit is dedicated to Medgar Wiley Evers, who was a civil rights campaigner and field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). His murder in 1963 prompted President John F. Kennedy to ask Congress for a comprehensive civil rights bill. Evers became the first martyr to the 1960s civil rights movement, and his death was a turning point for many in the struggle for equality, infusing other civil rights leaders with renewed determination to continue their struggle despite the violent threats being made against them. In the wake of Evers’s assassination, a new civil rights motto was born—”After Medgar, no more fear.” (1)

(1) “Evers, Medgar Wylie (1925–1963).” Encyclopedia of African American Society. Ed. Gerald D. Jaynes. Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference, 2005. 299-300. Gale Virtual Reference Library