Medgar Wiley Evers (July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist from Decatur Mississippi. He is best known for his work to overturn racial segregation in the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s. He was a World War II veteran. He became a field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). After the 1954 ruling of the United States Supreme Court in "Brown v. Board of Education" that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, Evers worked to get African Americans admitted to the all-white University of Mississippi. He also worked for other changes in the nation's then-segregated society, such as voting rights and registration, economic opportunity, and access to public facilities for African Americans.