Jackson Free Press

Civil-rights leader and Mississippi native Lawrence Guyot died in his home in Mount Rainier, Md. on Thursday, Nov. 22, at age 73. He had been in ill health, struggling with heart problems and diabetes.

Guyot was born in Pass Christian on July 17, 1939. He attended Tougaloo College, where he became active in the Civil Rights Movement; he graduated in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry. Guyot served on the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and was the director of the Freedom Summer Project of 1964. The event drew thousands to Mississippi to help register black voters.

Guyot was chairman of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which worked to get black delegates included in the state's delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Guyot also laid the groundwork for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

During the civil rights struggle, police officers beat Guyot several times, including once at a jail in Winona, Miss. and a particularly infamous incident that took place at Mississippi's Parchman Farm prison in Sunflower County.

Guyot returned to college and earned a law degree from Rutgers University in 1971. After graduation he moved to Washington, D.C., where he helped get fellow Mississippi civil-rights activist Marion Barry elected mayor in 1978. Guyot served as a neighborhood advisory commissioner for the D.C. area.

Guyot served as a program monitor for the D.C. Department of Human Services' Office of Early Childhood Development until his retirement in 2004. Guyot later started appearing as a commentator on Fox News, where he defended the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. He fought against Republican efforts to limit access to the polls in Mississippi and campaigned for President Barack Obama. In this month's presidential election, Guyot voted early out of concern for his failing health, wanting to ensure his vote was counted.

Funeral services for Guyot are pending as of this writing.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.