After stopping in Anniston and Birmingham, AL, our Civil Rights Tour of the South continued in Jackson, MS. We had spent the night in our AirBnB just outside of Jackson, and were looking forward to our tour of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home. As you’ll read below, it is the site of a terrible crime, and we ourselves had the police show up on us (though fortunately for innocuous reasons).
This national monument is one of the newest parks in the system, having been established in 2019. The park consists of the former home of the Evers family, and they are also currently building a community garden down the street. Interestingly, the home is located in an established neighborhood in Jackson, with neighbors living right next door.
Medgar and Myrlie Evers were not familiar to me, but through researching and visiting this home, I have learned about them and their fight to ensure liberty and justice for all. Medgar and Myrlie Evers were instrumental in the civil rights struggle in Mississippi during the mid-20th century.
Medgar was denied admission to the University of Mississippi Law School, even after the Brown v. Board of Eduction decision. Later becoming Field Director of the NAACP in Mississippi, he was at the forefront of trying to integrate establishments throughout Jackson and beyond. His efforts eventually led to the desegregation of Ole Miss, which had denied him entry eight years prior. He also helped lead investigations in the Emmett Till murder.
Unfortunately, this freedom fight led to violence towards the Evers family. As such, Medgar and Myrlie had to train their kids on what to do in case of an attack at home. The beds were on the floor in order to be out of sight of snipers. I can’t imagine having to do that with my kids.
On June 11, 1963 (nearly 60 years to the date before our visit), Medgar came home, but was sadly shot and killed right there in his carport. The carport wall still bears the scar of the bullet hole.
The assassin was arrested quickly based on fingerprint evidence, but two all-white juries couldn’t reach a guilty verdict. It wouldn’t be until 30 years later that new evidence (and a different social environment) would lead to a new trial, guilty verdict, and a sentence of life in prison.
Myrlie Evers, after her husband’s assassination, moved with her children to California. Throughout her life, she has continued fighting for justice, being elected chair of the NAACP at one point. She is 90 years old as of this writing. Today, the Jackson airport, among many other things, is named in their honor.
As this park is newer, visitor access is limited. Only recently have they opened up the home for tours to the public, though only on certain days. We happened to be in Jackson on a day when the home would be open. Not having any success calling the number on the website, I successfully set up a tour by sending them a message on Facebook.
We show up right on time and nobody is there. I start reading the signage in front of the house while I wait. Teagan eventually comes up and tells me that there’s an alarm going off inside. Weird, I thought.
Then I get the full story.
Turns out, while I knew that nobody was home, I had not communicated this well to Tiffany. She had assumed that we had a tour, and that people were always staffed inside. So, the girls had gone around back and Teagan had just opened the door and walked in (which was not locked…also weird). The alarm then started going off, and Teagan, scared, went back out.
Great. Now what do we do. There are cameras.
The police eventually show up. We explain what happened, and it’s no problem. What is a problem, though, is that the police can’t get the alarm turned off. Remember the communication issue I had in setting up the tour? The police had the same issue. No number they had worked. As it was evident that our tour wasn’t going to happen, we left, and I don’t know what ultimately happened.
(Most probably, the door had been left unlocked following the 60th anniversary events that had recently taken place.)
So while we didn’t get to tour (except for Teagan’s brief three second appearance), we did head over to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, where I knew they had another stamp for our passport. Touring the museum wasn’t in the cards today, but we enjoyed looking around the gift shop, Tiffany and I seeing all the books we wanted to read, and the girls seeing all the toys they wanted to have.
For lunch, we headed just a few minutes away to a fantastic mom and pop type establishment called the Museum Café. It’s basically a meat and three, but it’s served buffet style. Everything was delicious.
While Sage and Tiffany went back to the AirBnB to nap (except Sage never did, though she was super tired), Teagan and I went back downtown to visit the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. It is a great little museum, complete with a two headed-snake and alligators.
All in all, it was a great first half of the day. Check out what we did in the afternoon as we visited the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail here.
Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument Official Site
Beavers in the Park 