Plaque shows landmark status for civil rights leaders’ home
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – The National Park Service has unveiled a bronze plaque showing that the Mississippi home of civil rights leaders Medgar and Myrlie Evers is a national historic landmark.
The Interior Department approved the landmark designation in 2016 and announced it the next year. State and federal officials are also pushing for the home to become a national monument, which would provide further protection.
Medgar Evers was a World War II veteran who returned to his native Mississippi to again face harsh segregation. As field secretary of the Mississippi NAACP, he led voter registration drives and boycotts to push for racial equality. He was assassinated June 12, 1963, outside the modest ranch-style home.
Friends and relatives of the Evers joined more than 100 people for the ceremony Thursday outside the home.
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