JACKSON, Miss.—The Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument never stopped giving out brochures that describe Medgar Evers’ killer as a “racist,” despite reports saying they had been removed and later returned, says the monument’s superintendent, Keena Graham.
“We give out the same tour to everyone. We provide brochures to everyone and we haven’t stopped,” Graham told the Mississippi Free Press on Friday. “Not one second. Not one day. That’s all I can tell you.”
The monument is at the Jackson, Mississippi, home where Myrlie and Medgar Evers lived with their children when klansman Byron De La Beckwith shot and killed the civil rights leader in his driveway in June 1963.
On Thursday morning, Mississippi Today’s Jerry Mitchell reported that the U.S. National Park Service had removed the brochures and planned to replace them with a version that would not refer to murderer Byron De La Beckwith as a “racist.” The report has since drawn national attention and responses from organizations across the country.
But when a Mississippi Free Press reporter visited the monument around 12 p.m. on Thursday, the brochures that referred to Beckwith as “a member of the racist and segregationist White Citizens’ Council” remained available to visitors on a bookshelf inside.
Before publishing a report saying the brochures were still available, the Mississippi Free Press spoke to Jerry Mitchell and asked about the discrepancy. Mitchell said he visited the monument last week, he thinks on Saturday, and that the brochures were not available at the time.
“They were not present in the house when I asked for one—they were back in the office is what I was told. I can’t remember the exact words, but they told me they were in the office. They did not have them there,” Mitchell said on Thursday. “And I might add that I was told by others the same thing, before I ever got there, I was told the same thing by someone else who went through the home that they had pulled the brochures and that they were editing them, and that once they were done editing, they would have new brochures. I’m not denying they have brochures.”
Soon after the Mississippi Free Press published a story reporting that the brochures were still available around 6 p.m., Mississippi Today published a follow-up story by Mitchell saying that “the Park Service returned the brochures to the home” sometimes in the hours after his initial report.
‘We Have Never Stopped’
Superintendent Keena Graham disputes Mitchell’s follow-up report, too, telling the Mississippi Free Press on Friday that the National Park Service did not return the brochures to the home because the National Park Service never removed the brochures to begin with.
“I have no idea what he’s referring to. But we have never stopped, we have never stopped. I’m saying this as clearly as I can: We have never stopped issuing the brochures,” the monument’s superintendent said. “Every visitor—and we’ve had over 60,000 visitors last year—has received a brochure.”
Asked specifically about Mitchell’s recollection that he visited the home last Saturday and that the staff told him the brochures were not available, Graham said, “I do not understand” and said her staff never told Mitchell that the brochures were removed.
“My staff keeps the brochures over in the bookcase areas, including where the seeds are,” she said, referring to seeds the monument gives out in honor of Medgar and Myrlie Evers’ shared love of gardening. “And according to my staff, when he came there, they greeted him as they always greet him.”
In response to a request for comment on Friday, the National Park Service told the Mississippi Free Press in a statement Thursday evening that “some changes to park brochures are not related to Secretary’s Order 3431,” referring to an order from U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to root out depictions of race and diversity that the administration disfavors.
“In reality, parks regularly remove or replace brochures that are outdated, as was the case at Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument,” the statement said.
The statement used the same language as an email the department had shared with Mitchell Thursday morning, which the investigative reporter also shared with the Mississippi Free Press.
Since President Donald Trump took office for his second term last year, his administration has targeted diversity initiatives and anything his officials consider “woke.” That has included an effort to remove the name of Medgar Evers, a World War II veteran, from a naval vessel.
Some Edits Are Planned for Brochures, Graham Says
In a previous interview on Thursday, Graham acknowledged that some edits are planned for the brochures, but said that they need to have tour hours and hours of operation updated. She said the goal is to give the brochures a fresh, updated look at the Evers family, but that the work is being done in coordination with the Evers family.
The Mississippi Free Press also asked Graham whether she was aware of any NPS directive for the monument to remove references to Beckwith as a “racist.”
“Not that I know of at this moment,” the superintendent said on Thursday.
The Mississippi Free Press has issued a Freedom of Information Act request to the National Park Service, requesting any documents or emails relating to directives, proposals or requests to change the brochures at the Medgar and Myrlie Evers National Monument.
We will report on any relevant documents when we receive them.