Medgar Evers: Mississippi Martyr

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication

Medgar Evers Mississippi Martyr MICHAEL VINSON WILLIAMS The University of Arkansas Press Fayetteville 2011 Williams2RevisedPages:Layout 1 9/7/11 9:52 AM Page iii Copyright © 2011 by The University of Arkansas Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America ISBN-10: 1-55728-973-5 ISBN-13: 978-1-55728-973-5 15 14 13 12 11 5 4 3 2 1 Text design by Ellen Beeler ∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.481984 . Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Williams, Michael Vinson, 1971– Medgar Evers : Mississippi martyr / Michael Vinson Williams. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-55728-973-5 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-55728-973-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Evers, Medgar Wiley, 1925–1963 2. African American civil rights workers— Mississippi—Jackson—Biography. 3. Civil rights workers—Mississippi—Jackson— Biography. 4. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People— Biography. 5. Civil rights movements—Mississippi—History—20th century. 6. African Americans—Civil rights—Mississippi—History—20th century. 7. Mississippi—Race relations. 8. Jackson (Miss.)—Biography. I. Title. F349.J13W55 2011 323.092--dc23 [B] 201102720 “Only A Pawn in Their Game,” written by Bob Dylan. Copyright © 1963, 1964 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1991, 1996 by Special Rider Music. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Reprinted by permission. Williams2RevisedPages:Layout 1 9/7/11 9:52 AM Page iv To my ancestors, to my grandmothers Grady B. “Mur” Williams and Bell “Mama Bell” Smith, my great-grandmother Earline “Mama” Glass, and my great-aunt Tommie Etoy Kilgore; they always knew and demanded that I become a man of pride and principle To Medgar Wiley Evers and the countless men, women, and children whose determined and broad shoulders he humbly stood upon to make this world a better place for my children, I say thank you Williams2RevisedPages:Layout 1 9/7/11 9:52 AM Page v Williams2RevisedPages:Layout 1 9/7/11 9:52 AM Page vi ...