FAYETTE, Miss. – Dr. Michael V. Williams, professor of History and director of Africana Studies at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, participated in a ceremony Friday, February 28, 2025 in Fayette, Mississippi, that honored the legacy of James Charles Evers, who served for 16 years as the town’s mayor. Charles Evers was the brother of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
Williams served as a guest speaker for the event that included the unveiling of a Mississippi Freedom Trail marker erected in Charles Evers’ honor. About 200 people turned out for the event which was held at the Jefferson County Courthouse at 1484 Main Street in Fayette.
Williams shared the platform with another guest speaker: Democratic Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, who represents Mississippi’s 2nd congressional district.
The Mississippi Freedom Trail was created to honor the people and places in the state that played an important role in the American Civil Rights Movement. The markers are administered by the Mississippi Humanities Council and Visit Mississippi.
During William’s presentation, he said Charles Evers’ life came “to epitomize what it meant to fight for and demand freedom, to fight for and demand equality, to fight for and demand justice, and to dedicate his life to the defense of humanity .…”
Williams said Charles Evers was unwavering in his belief that Mississippi could be better, but that it was up to the people to make it so. “He told us that we have a responsibility to challenge wrong, wherever we found it,” Williams said.
Charles Evers was also down-to-earth in his communication with the public, according to Williams. He said Charles Evers’ talks also revealed his fearlessness, as in his statement, “I would rather be dead and in heaven than be afraid to do what I think is right.”
First elected in 1969, Charles Evers was the first Black mayor of a biracial town in Mississippi since Reconstruction, following passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which enforced constitutional rights for citizens. He was remembered at the ceremony as a fearless leader and man of principle who stayed the course in the fight for justice, freedom, and equality.
Charles Evers was born in 1922 in Decatur. He spent many years of service as a businessman, civil rights activist, and politician. He also worked as station manager for WMPR, where he hosted a weekly political talk show.
Charles Evers served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was a 1950 graduate of Alcorn A&M College in Lorman, which is today’s Alcorn State University.
In addition to his time as mayor of Fayette, Charles Evers served as Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP following the assassination of his younger brother, Medgar Evers, on June 12, 1963. During the mid-1960s, Charles Evers became a leader of the Civil Rights Movement in Natchez after the attempted assassination of NAACP President George Metcalfe, whose car was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan on August 27,1965.
Charles Evers played a significant role in the success of the Natchez movement, according to historians. When he departed Natchez, he left “with his own position strengthened statewide,” wrote John Dittmer in “Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi” (University of Illinois Press, 1995). “Nationally, the charismatic brother of Medgar Evers had come to symbolize the civil rights movement in Mississippi.”
In 1969, the NAACP named him the “Man of the Year” because of his accomplishments. Charles Evers died in July 2020 in Brandon, Mississippi. He was 97.