Rita schwerner bender biography of williams

Rita Levant SchwernerBender (born 1942) is an American civil rights activist and lawyer. She and her first husband Michael (Mickey) Schwerner participated in the Freedom Summer of 1964, where Michael was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan.

Category:Activists for African-American civil rights - Wikipedia

As his young widow, she drew national attention for her commentary on racial prejudice in the United States, delivered at a press conference after her husband went missing. After the Civil Rights Movement, Schwerner became an attorney, practicing family law in Washington state. She continues to advocate for civil rights through her law practice and public presentations.

Early life

Schwerner and husband Michael both grew up in New York.

They married when she was 20 and he was 22.

Activism

Rita Schwerner became active in the civil rights movement first in the north; she and Michael were both arrested at a civil rights protest in Baltimore in July 1963.

Freedom Summer and death of Michael Schwerner

The Schwer A Brutal Loss, but an Enduring Conviction — ProPublica QOVIF