Dates: 1967; 1993-1997; n.d.

Biography:

Byron De La Beckwith

Byron De La Beckwith was born in Colusa, Colusa County, California, on November 9, 1920. He was the son of Susan Southworth Yerger and Byron De La Beckwith, Sr. Beckwith moved to Greenwood, Leflore County, Mississippi, with his mother after his father died of pneumonia when Beckwith was five years old. His mother succumbed to lung cancer leaving twelve-year old Beckwith to be raised by his uncle and other relatives. Beckwith’s performances in the Greenwood public schools forced his uncle to send him to the strict Webb School in Bell Buckle, Bedford County, Tennessee, in 1936. Beckwith’s performance there resulted in his transfer to the Colombia Military Academy in Colombia, Maury County, Tennessee, in 1938. Beckwith returned back to Greenwood public schools, graduating in 1940. Beckwith enrolled at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, only to return home after receiving low scores.

In 1942, Beckwith enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. Beckwith fought at the Battle of Guadalcanal and the Battle of Tawara in the Pacific theater of World War II. At the Battle of Tawara, Beckwith was shot in the waist and in January 1946, he received an honorable discharge. For his service, Beckwith was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation (twice), the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, the Good Conduct Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Purple Heart.

Beckwith was later stationed at the Naval Air Station in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, where he worked as an aviation mechanic. While in Memphis, Beckwith met Mary Louise Williams, whom he married on September 22, 1945. Out of this union, a son named Byron De La Beckwith, Jr., was born. During the early to mid 1960s, Beckwith worked as a traveling fertilizer salesman for Delta Liquid Plant Food in Greenville, Washington County, Mississippi. Beckwith’s segregationist views began to evolve when he joined the White Citizen’s Council in 1954. Beckwith later became involved the Ku Klux Klan in the late 1960s.

In 1956, the Mississippi state legislature created the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission to combat the Supreme Court’s ordered desegregation bills. Beckwith applied for a position within the state’s secret agency. In his application, Beckwith was very ardent about his segregationist stance, telling the agency that he would eliminate the forces behind the NAACP that were seeking to end segregation. He was not selected for the agency but Beckwith’s mission to rid the state of Mississippi of integration became fulfilled when he shot Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963. Evers was the NAACP first national field secretary in the state of Mississippi. Evers opposed segregation and led boycotts of department stores in downtown Jackson. When he arrived home after midnight on June 12, he was shot in the back in his driveway. On June 21, 1963, Beckwith was charged with the murder of Evers and would be prosecuted twice for the murder in 1964 with both trials ending in hung juries.

In 1967, Beckwith ran for lieutenant governor of Mississippi. Beckwith was a nationally known figure as the accused assassin of Medgar Evers, but his new fame was not enough to win the nomination; he finished fifth out of the six candidates seeking the position. In 1973, Beckwith was stopped at a police roadblock in New Orleans, Louisiana. The New Orleans Police Department received a tip that Beckwith was traveling into the state to assassinate A. I. Botnick, head of the New Orleans hapter of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. The police seized a bomb, three rifles, a pistol, a 50-caliber machine gun barrel and a quantity of ammunition. Beckwith argued that he was visiting the state as a traveling salesman and that he did not have any knowledge of the bomb that was found in the car. Beckwith was acquitted of federal charges but was found guilty in the state court for transporting explosives without a permit. Beckwith served three years at Angola Prison in Louisiana from 1977 to 1980. After being released from prison, Beckwith married Thelma Lindsay Neff on June 8, 1983, and moved to Signal Mountain, Hamilton County, Tennessee. This would be Beckwith’s fourth marriage. The previous three marriages to his first wife finally ended after their third divorce.

On October 1, 1989, the Clarion Ledger of Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, ran an article alleging jury tampering in the second trial of the State of Mississippi v. Byron De La Beckwith. Myrlie Evers, the widow of Medgar Evers, and African American activists in Jackson demanded that there should be a reopening of the unsolved cold case. The Hinds County District Attorney’s office announced on October 31, 1989, that there would be a new trial against Beckwith for the 1963 murder of Medgar Evers. On Dec. 17, 1990, Beckwith was arrested at his home in Signal Mountain and was extradited from Tennessee to Mississippi after a Hinds County grand jury indicted him for the third time in the Evers murder. On February 5, 1994, Beckwith was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. In 1996, Ghosts of Mississippi, a feature film that focused on the 1994 trial of the State of Mississippi v. Byron De La Beckwith, was released in theaters. James Woods was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Beckwith in the film. Beckwith was incarcerated at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, Rankin County, Mississippi, until his death on January 21, 2001. Beckwith died at the age of eighty at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

 

Related Collections:

Bobby DeLaughter Papers (Z/2301), MDAH.
Medgar Wiley and Myrlie Beasley Evers Papers (Z/2231), MDAH.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection consists of correspondence and an interview of Byron De La Beckwith, the papers of Thelma Neff Beckwith, and newsletters. The correspondence contains handwritten notes and letters written by Beckwith on photocopies of newspaper articles. These items were sent by Beckwith to John Wilson, a reporter for the Chattanooga (Tennessee) News-Free Press, and document Beckwith's political, social, and religious beliefs.

The papers of Thelma Neff Beckwith contain a letter to John Wilson; incoming correspondence from Byron De La Beckwith, and from their friends, and a photocopied newspaper article that was written at the time of Beckwith's third trial.

There are newsletters and a book catalog from Virginia Publishing Company. The newsletters, the Hoskins Report and Censored Bible Teachings, contain handwritten annotations by Beckwith: some are addressed specifically to John Wilson. Also included are two additional newsletters; one from the Separatist Church Society (Kodiak, Tennessee) and the other from the International Free Press (Mansonville, Quebec).

 

Box List:

Box 1, folder 1: Correspondence, 1993-1997. 
Box 1, folder 2: Correspondence, 1993-1994. 
Box 1, folder 3: Thelma Beckwith papers, 1994-1995. 
Box 1, folder 4: Beckwith's interview for Lieutenant Governor, 1967. 
Box 1, folder 5: Hoskins Report newsletters, 1994. 
Box 1, folder 6: Censored Bible Teachings newsletters, 1994; n.d. 
Box 1, folder 7: Newsletters, 1994-1996; n.d.