Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home

Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home NM https://www.nps.gov/memy/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_and_Myrlie_Evers_Home_National_Monument The Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, also known as Medgar Evers House, is a historic house museum at 2332 Margaret Walker Alexander Drive in Jackson, Mississippi. Built in 1956, it was the home of African-American civil rights activist Medgar Evers (1925-1963) at the time of his assassination. Medgar and Myrlie Evers were partners in the civil rights struggle. The assassination of Medgar Evers in the carport of their home on June 12, 1963, was the first murder of a nationally significant leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, and it became a catalyst for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Myrlie Evers continued to promote issues of racial equality and social justice. The national monument is located in Jackson, Mississippi, off Medgar Evers Blvd., approximately 1.5 miles southeast of I-220. If you wish to collect an NPS passport cancellation stamp, visit Mississippi Civil Rights Museum at 222 North Street, less than 5 miles drive from the national monument. Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home A small ranch-style home, aqua in color with light brown brick accents, sits on a shaded lot. Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument Medgar Evers at Work A black and white photo of a black man in a white shirt sitting at a desk next to a typewriter. Medgar Evers at work. Medgar Evers Close up black and white image of a black man with a pencil mustache. Medgar Evers Staff Spotlight: Keena Graham Meet Keena Graham, who is the Superintendent of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers National Monument. Keena Graham smiling in front of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers National Monument Trails&Rails 2023 National Conference Current NPS Director Chuck Sams addresses attendees at the 2023 National Trails&Rails Operations Conference. A large group of people sit facing forward at tables arranged in a U shap National Parks Named in Honor of Women Women’s history is found in more than 400 national parks across the country and still being made today. National parks come in many different shapes, sizes, naming designations, and reasons for being created. Explore national parks that were created and named in honor of specific women and take a closer look at these women’s lasting legacy on American history. Bust of Alice Paul Eisenhower and Evers: Leaders in War, Leaders for Change Dwight D. Eisenhower and Medgar Evers both served their country in World War II and went on to shape the course of the nation after the war. Explore their stories here. A black and white image of a man standing in a U.S. army uniform Project Profile: Landscape Stewardship Corps Pre-Apprenticeship Program In collaboration with the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, the Historic Preservation Training Center is launching the Traditional Trades Advancement Program-Landscape Stewardship Corps, a nationwide internship program aimed at inspiring youth. The program focuses on providing hands-on experiences and training in cultural landscape preservation, preparing the next generation to become stewards of the National Park Service. Two people working with seeds Realizing the Dream: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Beyond Signed into law July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Many national parks were created to preserve and tell the story of the struggle for civil and human rights leading up to the Act and beyond as we continue to work towards realizing the dream for all people. Statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at night Medgar and Myrlie Evers' Yard and Garden The yard, home, and driveway of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument are a memorial to Medgar and Myrlie Evers' lives and work in in civil rights. The landscape, located in the Elraine subdivision of Jackson, also reflects their pride and attention toward their home, commitment to resisting oppression, and investment in their community. Short turf grows between a driveway to the left, a curb, and a one-story ranch house Spade and Fork Garden Club In 1956, the same year that Medgar and Myrlie Evers purchased a home in the middle-class African American subdivision of Elraine in Jackson, Mississippi, a group of neighborhood women formed the Spade and Fork Garden Club. Residential gardens clubs were a forum for women to invest in their homes and neighborhoods, demonstrating both creativity and middle-class domesticity. Garden clubs were also a source of individual and community empowerment in an unequal society. A row of African American women in tailored dresses stands behind a table set with a punch bowl. From TTAP to NPS: Alex Crawford In 2024, Alex Crawford worked as a Traditional Trades Advancement Program (TTAP) Landscape Stewardship Corps (LSC) intern at Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument. This internship gave him essential skills that led to him becoming a gardener at Petersburg National Battlefield. We caught up with him to hear about his experience, his background, and his work now as an NPS employee. Two men hunching over a green planter with small green plants growing in it. Then and Now Over time the messaging and style used for protest signs has changed, but the core idea has always remained the same. Compare the past and the present. Illustration of Alcorn the Squirrel looking through binoculars Make Your Own Mississippi Mud Pie Children in Mississippi have made "mud pies" for many generations. Now is your chance to make your very own, following this recipe. Illustration of a watering can poring water onto a small plant growing from dirt Life on Guynes Street Read about the Elraine Subdivision where the Evers family lived, then answer trivia questions. Illustration of a bath tub Evers Home Coloring Page Print, color, and have fun. Illustration of pencil with a smiling face When Everyday Folks Become Heroes Meet a few of the folks that fought alongside Medgar and Myrlie Evers to make Mississippi a more fair and equal place. Illustration of Alcorn the Squirrel by a rose bush PreReader Maze Game Worksheet activity for PreReaders. Complete a maze, collecting water and light on the way to a flowering bush. Illustration of a lady bug walking past a leaf and curving line PreReader Tracing Practice Worksheet activity for PreReaders. Connect the objects by tracing the lines left to right. Illustration of acorn PreReader Myrlies Garden Worksheet activity for PreReaders. Draw a line to match the flowers and colors. Illustration of magnolia flower PreReader Learning Vocabulary Worksheet activity for PreReaders. Learn vocabulary words and practice writing by tracing letters. Illustration of smiling sunshine

Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior National Monument Mississippi INSET PHOTO AND TIE CLIP: MEDGAR WILEY AND MYRLIE BEASLEY EVERS PAPERS, MDAH; PIN: SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE The house that activists Medgar and Myrlie Evers shared holds memories of a loving family life and bears scars from its loss. If these walls could talk, they might tell of the couple’s long hours of hard work shared over the kitchen table, or of an unforgettable night of bloodshed. Medgar Evers stood at the forefront of every major civil rights event in Mississippi from 1955 until his assassination in June of 1963, pivotal years of the long freedom struggle. Freedom Has Never Been Free As a boy, Medgar Evers walked 12 miles to school—each way—because the school closer to his home did not allow people like him to attend. In his hometown, he witnessed deadly violence against men that shared his skin color. At 18, he was drafted into the segregated US Army and fought at Normandy. He risked his life overseas, believing things would be different for black veterans once back home. Instead, he was bullied at the ballot box and even denied use of the restroom at many gas stations. By the time he met Myrlie Beasley at Alcorn College, Medgar Evers was calling for change. In 1954, he tested the new Brown v. Board of Education decision by applying to the then-segregated University of Mississippi Law School. Though denied admission, the NAACP saw Medgar’s potential. He would prove instrumental in the eventual desegregation of Ole Miss eight years later. Though insulated in the Elraine Subdivision, a close-knit black community, the Evers took precautions at home. The house had no front door, only one in the more-protected carport area. They placed their children’s beds on the floor below windows to guard against snipers. They trained the children to crawl, infantry-style, into the bathroom in the event of an attack. Medgar tried to make a game of self-defense lessons, but the underlying fear became constant. He became Mississippi’s NAACP Field Director, which brought Medgar, his wife Myrlie, and their growing family to Jackson, where he helped organize campaigns to integrate parks, beaches, and public transit. He gave speeches and appeared in news media. His rising profile alerted white supremacists that he was a force to be reckoned with. He was slugged on a bus. A car attempted to run him over. His home was firebombed. After graduation, Evers increased his civil rights activism while traveling the state selling insurance. He organized boycotts and voter registrations, and became involved with organizations like the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). MEDGAR WILEY AND MYRLIE BEASLEY EVERS PAPERS, MDAH Hate is a Wasteful Emotion Despite the threats and danger, he continued to work and speak out. Meanwhile, Myrlie worked behind the scenes managing the field office, writing speeches, and making her home an unofficial extension of the NAACP. Group of neighborhood children (including Darrell and Reena Evers) in Evers’s yard in 1959, showing home’s entrance through carport On June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy spoke to the nation about civil rights in a televised address. Medgar was not home to watch the address with Myrlie and the children that night…it was another late night of organizing and attending meetings. The family waited up for Medgar to arrive home, which he did just after midnight. While unloading t-shirts that said “Jim Crow Must Go” on them, a shot was fired from a tangle of bushes across the street. The bullet passed through Medgar’s body, broke a window, passed through a wall and ricocheted off the refrigerator before coming to rest on the kitchen counter. Inside the house, Myrlie yelled to her children to get down, and ran to the carport to find Medgar lying in a pool of blood. Neighbors gathered as the children cried for their father. Medgar was rushed to the hospital, but did not survive. His final words: “Turn me loose.” Only a Pawn in their Game Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the racist and segregationist White Citizens’ Council, symbolizes the greater hatred that permeated much of the American South throughout the 1960s. Though he was arrested for the crime almost immediately after the murder, with his rifle and fingerprints found at the scene, he was set free after two deadlocked trials with all-male, all-white juries. It would be 31 years before new evidence finally convicted Beckwith and sent him to prison. You Can’t Kill an Idea Myrlie Evers continued to champion the causes that were so important to both her and her late husband, becoming a speaker, author, and tireless activist (in addition to her corporate career). A year after Evers’s murder, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed segrega