(1) An integral part of the fight for racial 
equality, Medgar Wiley Evers, was born July 2, 
1925, in Decatur, Mississippi, to James and Jessie 
Evers. 
(2) Faithfully serving his country, Medgar 
Evers willingly left high school to join the Army at 
the start of World War II. 
(3) After the conclusion of the war, Mr. Evers 
returned home to Mississippi, completed high school, 
enrolled in Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical Col-
lege (presently known as Alcorn State University) 
and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business 
Administration. 
(4) While at Alcorn State University, Medgar 
Evers met and married fellow Alcorn student, Myrlie 
Beasley, of Vicksburg, Mississippi. 
(5) Upon graduation, Myrlie and Medgar Evers 
moved to Mound Bayou, Mississippi, where Medgar 
held a job with Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance 
Company, and began establishing local chapters of 
the National Association for the Advancement of 
Colored People (‘‘NAACP’’) throughout the Mis-
sissippi Delta. 
(6) Having been so moved by the immense suf-
fering of African-Americans in Mississippi, Medgar 
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Evers felt compelled to fight to change the cir-
cumstances and challenges facing them and, in 
1954, Medgar Evers became the first known Afri-
can-American to apply to the University of Mis-
sissippi School of Law. Mr. Evers was denied enroll-
ment. 
(7) In 1954, Medgar Evers became the first 
Field Secretary for the Mississippi chapter of the 
NAACP. 
(8) In the capacities of his new position Medgar 
Evers hosted numerous voter registration efforts in 
Mississippi and, as a result of these activities, re-
ceived numerous threats against his life. 
(9) Despite these threats, Mr. Evers carried on 
his work with dedication and courage, organizing 
rallies, building membership within the NAACP, and 
traveling around the country educating the public on 
the fight for Civil Rights. 
(10) Medgar and Myrlie Evers’ passion for 
quality education for all children led them to file suit 
against the Jackson, Mississippi, public school sys-
tem gaining him attention with the national media 
as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement in Mis-
sissippi. 
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(11) As a result of his continued and ongoing 
efforts—rallies, sit-ins, and protests—to stand up 
for the rights of African-Americans in Mississippi, 
Mr. Evers was arrested, beaten, and jailed with his 
due process rights denied. 
(12) The senseless and abhorrent violence 
against Mr. Evers reached its pinnacle on June 12, 
1963, when he was violently shot in front of his 
home and died shortly afterwards in a local hospital, 
mere hours after President John F. Kennedy had 
made a national televised speech from the Oval Of-
fice calling for full racial integration in America. 
The Civil Rights Act was enacted the following year. 
(13) As a veteran, Evers was buried with full 
military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. 
(14) On June 23, 1963, Byron De La 
Beckwith, a member of the White Citizens’ Council, 
was arrested for Evers’ murder, but juries in 1964, 
composed solely of white men, twice deadlocked on 
De La Beckwith’s guilt, resulting in mistrials. 
(15) Following two trials resulting in acquittal, 
in 1990, Mrs. Evers convinced Mississippi prosecu-
tors to reopen Medgar Evers’ murder case, and a 
new trial led to the conviction and life imprisonment 
of Medgar Evers’ killer in 1994. 
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(16) It is befitting that Congress bestow the 
highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold 
Medal, to Medgar Wiley Evers, posthumously in 
honor of his work on behalf of racial equality which 
tragically led to his assassination, but also was a 
major catalyst in passage and enactment of the Civil 
Rights Act in 1964. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 
the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 
for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con-
gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemo-
ration of Medgar Wiley Evers, in recognition of his con-
tributions and ultimate sacrifice in the fight for racial 
equality in the United States. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 
of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 
devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec-
retary. 
(c) AWARD OF MEDAL.—Following the award of the 
gold medal in commemoration of Medgar Wiley Evers 
under subsection (a), the medal shall be given to the Mis-
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sissippi Civil Rights Museum, where it shall be available 
for display or temporary loan to be displayed elsewhere, 
as appropriate. 
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 
under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 
a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 
and the cost of the gold medal. 
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu-
ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 
51 of title 31, United States Code. 
(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 
5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 
under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 
Æ 
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