Slain Pelham Civil Rights Activist Gets Medal Of Freedom

PELHAM, N.Y. – Michael Schwerner, a Pelham High School graduate who was murdered during the Freedom Summer of 1964, will posthumously receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony at the White House on Monday, Nov. 24, reports LoHud.com.

From left, Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman
Photo Credit: *Wikimedia Commons*

Nicole Briggs

11/12/2014 10:00 a.m.

Schwerner, along with Andrew Goodman of New York City and James Chaney of Meridian, Miss., disappeared by Philadelphia, Miss., in 1964 while helping local black residents register to vote. Their bodies were found 44 days later, and members of the Ku Klux Klan were found guilty of their deaths, according to the report.

On Thursday, Nov. 13, the siblings of the three men are coming together at Pelham Memorial High School at 7 p.m. for a panel discussion commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Summer and the murders. The event is free and open to the community, reports LoHud.

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