“Medgar Evers Killer” Byron De La Beckwith Hand Written Letter on “The Confederate States of America” letterhead dated 1994. This item is certified authentic by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity. Byron De La Beckwith Jr. (November 9, 1920 January 21, 2001) was an. On June 12, 1963. Two trials in 1964 on this charge resulted in. In 1994, he was tried by the state in a new trial based on new evidence; he was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison. De La Beckwith was born in. The son of Susan Southworth Yerger and Byron De La Beckwith Sr. Who was the town’s. His father died of. When he was five years old. One year later, De La Beckwith and his mother settled in. To be near family. His mother died of. When he was 12 years old, leaving him orphaned. He was raised by his maternal uncle William Greene Yerger and his wife. In January 1942, De La Beckwith enlisted in the. United States Marine Corps. Serving as a machine gunner in the. He fought in the. And was shot in the waist during the. He was honorably discharged in August 1945. After serving in the Marine Corps, De La Beckwith moved to. Where he married Mary Louise Williams. The couple relocated to Mississippi, where they settled in his hometown of Greenwood. They had a son together, Delay De La Beckwith. De La Beckwith and Williams divorced. He later married Thelma Lindsay Neff. In 1954, following the. United States Supreme Court. Public schools were unconstitutional, he became a member of a newly formed organization. The group was formed in Mississippi that year in order to resist. And maintain the exclusion of. From the state’s political system. Was founded in 1954 following the. Public school segregation was. Chapters arose in towns across the South among whites who wanted to resist. Their members used a variety of economic tactics to suppress black activism and sustain. The councils applied severe pressure by. Black businesses, denying loans and credit to. Firing people from their jobs, and other means. In Mississippi they prevented school integration until 1964. Although similar in nature to the. (KKK), the White Citizens’ Council was perceived to be a less disreputable body than the KKK because it lacked a historical reputation as a violent organization. First work for the NAACP on a national level involved interviewing Mississippians who had been intimidated by the White Citizens’ Councils and preparing. For use as evidence against the Councils if necessary. Byron De La Beckwith was a member of the White Citizens’ Council and the Ku Klux Klan. On June 12, 1963, at age 42, he assassinated. Shortly after the activist arrived home in. Beckwith was positioned across the street with a rifle, and he shot Evers in the back. Evers died an hour later, aged 37. Myrlie Evers, his wife, and his three children, James, Reena, and Darrell Evers, were home at the time of the assassination. Their son Darrell recalled the night: We were ready to greet him, because every time he came home it was special for us. He was traveling a lot at that time. All of a sudden, we heard a shot. We knew what it was. Darrell and the other children fled to the bathroom to hide in the bathtub. All three kids had been taught by their parents and forced to practice drills for safety prior to their father’s death because of threats made against him and two previous attacks on the house. The item “Medgar Evers Killer Byron De La Beckwith Hand Written Letter Todd Mueller COA” is in sale since Sunday, December 1, 2019. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Autographs\Celebrities”. The seller is “historicsellsmemorabilia” and is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, South africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa rica, Panama, Trinidad and tobago, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Brunei darussalam, Ecuador, Egypt, Luxembourg, Peru, Viet nam, Uruguay, Russian federation.