Civil Rights Activist. Michael Schwerner was a 20th-century American Civil Rights activist who was a member of the Congress of Racial Equality or a CORE field worker. Upon arriving in Mississippi for the purpose of supporting the voting rights of African-Americans, he, Andrew Goodman, and ames Chaney, who was the only black member of the group, began their Summer of Freedom visit to Neshoba County with an inspection of the burnt remains of Mount Zion Church, which had been a site of a CORE Freedom School. They then visited the homes of four black members of the congregation to learn more about the incident. After traveling on Highway #16, the CORE vehicle was stopped by Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price for an alleged traffic violation and taken to jail. Without being allowed to make a phone call, the fine was paid and the three were released. While leaving town that night, their vehicle was stopped by a patrol car and two cars of Ku Klux Klan members. The CORE field workers were put in Price's patrol car and taken to a remote area and killed. After national media coverage of three missing CORE field workers, their remains were discovered after a 44-day search. Born in a family of Jewish heritage, he attended Michigan State University and Cornell University before entering graduate school at the School of Social Work at Columbia University in New York City. He became active in Civil Rights for African American, joining CORE. In 1961, he married Rita Levant, who was outspoken in the media during the days he was missing. He was presented posthumously in 2014 with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Although never arrested for murder, Price was convicted in 1967 of violation of the Civil Rights of the three men. He was sentenced to a six-year prison term and served four and a half years at the Sandstone Federal Penitentiary in Minnesota.