Michael Schwerner was an American civil rights activist known for his work in the 1960s. He was born on November 6, 1939, in New York City and became involved in the civil rights movement while attending Cornell University. Schwerner was particularly focused on voter registration efforts in the southern United States. In 1964, Schwerner traveled to Mississippi to help organize the Freedom Summer campaign. Tragically, he was murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan along with two other activists, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney. Their deaths highlighted the dangers faced by civil rights workers and led to increased national attention on civil rights issues.