Medgar Evers 1963 Original Funeral Pin NAACP Mississippi Black Civil Rights 1414

Description

DETAILS:
Original pinback button issued by the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Youth Council
(
NAACPYC
) for the funeral service of Medgar Evers, held on June 15, 1963. Evers body would proceed to Arlington National Cemetery where he was buried with full military honors. Measures 1" inch. Rare.
BACKGROUND:
Medgar Evers (1925 – 1963) was an American civil rights activist and the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi, who was assassinated by a white supremacist outside of his house in Jackson, Mississippi. At the time Evers, a decorated U.S. Army veteran who had served in World War II, was engaged in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi.
He lived with the constant threat of death. A large white supremacist population existed in Jackson that was openly hostile to him. The risk was so high that before his death, Evers and his wife Myrlie had trained their children on what to do in case of an attack on their lives. Evers, who was regularly followed home by at least two FBI cars and one police car, arrived at his home on the morning of his death without an escort. None of his usual protection was present, for reasons never explained by by the FBI or local police. There has been speculation that many members of the police force at the time were also members of the white supremacist groups who had been terrorizing the African American community for decades.
In the early morning of Wednesday, June 12, 1963, just hours after President John F. Kennedy's nationally televised Civil Rights Address, Evers pulled into his driveway after returning from a meeting with NAACP lawyers. He was fatally shot.
Over 6000 people attended Evers’s funeral at the Masonic Temple in Jackson, including Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., James Meredith and US Congressman Charles Diggs. Afterwards, thousands of marchers were peacefully led by Dr. King to Collins Funeral Home where Evers’s body was prepared to be sent by train for burial at Arlington National Cemetery. During the entirety of the funeral, heavily armed Mississippi State Police in full riot gear, shadowed the procession in a clear attempt to intimidate the peacefully protesters.
GUARANTEE:
We offer a lifetime guarantee on all of our items to be authentic originals issued by the organization stated. They are not later re-issues or reproductions. We forensically examine all of our items prior to listing to make certain they are authentic.
BLACK CIVIL RIGHTS
Circa 1950-1970
Oxxbridge Galleries was founded in 1987 and specializes in paper items with a particular emphasis on counter culture and civil rights. If you have any items you have questions about, please feel free to contact us. You will be pleased by the friendliness and knowledge of our staff.
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