Reena Evers-Everette, daughter slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, speaks of her father's life and legacy during a memorial tribute held at their former residence Saturday morning in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

About 75 people gathered to honor the life of Medgar Evers on Saturday — exactly 58 years after he was assassinated at his home.

The event, held on June 12 each year, also honored Charles Evers, Medgar Evers’ brother and a notable longtime Mississippi politician, who died in July 2020 at the age of 97.

Before his assassination in 1963, Medgar Evers was one of the nation’s most prominent civil rights leader, working to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi, end the segregation of public facilities and expand voting rights for African Americans.

Evers family members, politicians and other notable community members spoke at the event on Saturday, held at the Medgar Evers home in west Jackson — now a national historic landmark.

Among those who spoke at the event included Medgar’s daughter Reena Evers-Everette, Charles’ daughter Carolyn Evers Cockrell, civil rights activist James Meredith, Mississippi state Sen. Hillman Frazier and Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba.

  • Civil Rights activist and author James Meredith listens as Reena Evers-Everette speaks on the legacy of her late father, slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Image of a young, U.S. Army private Medgar Evers. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Reena Evers-Everette, daughter slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers, speaks of her father’s life and legacy during a memorial tribute held at their former residence Saturday morning in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Reena Evers-Everette, daughter slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers, speaks of her father’s life and legacy during a memorial tribute held at their former residence Saturday morning in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Reena Evers-Everette, daughter slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers, speaks of her father’s life and legacy during a memorial tribute held at their former residence Saturday morning in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Reena Evers-Everette, daughter slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers, during a memorial tribute for her father held at their former residence Saturday morning in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Pamela Junior, Two Mississippi Museums Director, talks of the legacy of slain civil Rights leader Medgar Evers during a memorial tribute held at the Evers’ family former residence, now a national historic landmark. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Civil Rights activist James Meredith addresses those attending the memorial tribute for slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Family members, friends and local dignitaries gathered for a memorial tribute honoring the life and legacy of slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Senator Hillman Frazier speaks of the life and legacy of slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers during a memorial tribute for Evers Saturday morning in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • National Park Service Ranger Keena Graham serves as the Superintendent of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, where a memorial tribute was held for the slain Civil Rights leader Saturday morning. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Senator Hillman Frazier and Reena Evers-Everette, at the memorial tribute for slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • U.S. Army Sgt. Neikolus Johnson plays “Taps” during the memorial tribute for slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Courtney Mack sings for those attending the memorial tribute for Medgar Evers held at his former residence Saturday morning in Jackson. Reena Evers-Everette (right), daughter of the slain Civil Rights leader, was among those in attendance. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • U.S. Army Sgt. Neikolus Johnson places a wreath at the former home of Medgar Evers during a memorial tribute honoring the slain Civil Rights leader. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Family members, friends and local dignitaries gathered for a memorial tribute honoring the life and legacy of slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Family members, friends and local dignitaries gathered for a memorial tribute honoring the life and legacy of slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Family members, friends and local dignitaries gathered for a memorial tribute honoring the life and legacy of slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Corrie and Courtney Cockrell, grandnieces of Medgar Evers at the memorial tribute held in his honor. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Family members of slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers at a memorial tribute held in his honor. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
  • Family members of Medgar Evers held a memorial tribute for the slain Civil Rights leader. Many also gathered at the Medgar Evers Library to place a wreath at his statue. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

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Vickie King has experience as a professional photographer spanning 35 years- from childhood purchasing her first camera by selling flower seeds to neighbors, as a stringer for Associated Press in Des Moines, Iowa, a freelancer shooting an album cover to your loved one’s wedding, and your kids and pets at a J.C. Penney portrait studio. She joins the Mississippi Today team as a photojournalist.

A native Mississippian and resident of Jackson, Vickie was born in Laurel.
You know her work from years as a staff photographer for the Clarion-Ledger. Her award-winning photography has appeared in such publications as the New York Times, Editor & Publisher Magazine, People Magazine, in national news broadcasts, and books depicting the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to the glory of Ole Miss football.

Most recently, she is the former photographer, Special Projects Officer IV, Staff Officer I, videographer, and online content producer for the Mississippi Department of Corrections. She is also a Pulitzer Prize nominee for Spot News.

Vickie is a graduate of Simpson College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Relations.