Ellington

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Myrlie Evers-Williams has been selected to deliver the invocation at the inauguration of President Barack Obama on Jan. 21 in Washington.

The White House made the announcement Tuesday.

Evers-Williams, the widow of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers, is presently Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Alcorn State University in Lorman. Her office said Tuesday that she would be out until Jan. 22.

Evers-Williams served as the chairwoman of the NAACP from 1995 to 1998. She was honored by the Mississippi Legislature in 2011 for her contributions to civil rights and race relations and her accomplishments in publishing and business.