Miss. Senators Championed Efforts to Make Jackson Civil Rights Landmark Part of the National Park System
U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., today commended President Trump for signing S. 47, “the Natural Resources Management Act,” which included a proposal authored by the senators to designate the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home in Jackson as a national monument within the National Park System.
“Medgar and Myrlie Evers are heroes whose contributions to the advancement of civil rights in Mississippi and our nation cannot be overstated,” Wicker said. “I thank President Trump for signing this legislation that will provide additional resources to preserve their home for future generations of visitors. The Evers’s pursuit of equality and justice will be an enduring part of American history.”
“With the enactment of this legislation, the Evers family home will stand as a national monument that not only honors the sacrifices of the Evers family but all those, who during the civil rights movement, risked their lives for fair treatment of all,” Hyde-Smith said.
Wicker and Hyde-Smith reintroduced their legislation in January in an effort to bring additional federal resources to the site. The national monument designation is reserved for sites of great cultural, historical, or natural significance to the United States. It provides permanent protection by Congress under the Antiquities Act.
The Evers home, acquired by Tougaloo College in 1993 and labeled a museum in 1997, is currently a designated Mississippi landmark under the State Antiquity Law and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Senators Wicker and Hyde-Smith Press Release
3/12/2018
Sarah Ulmer
