Civil rights leader Lawrence Guyot dies at 73

Lawrence Guyot, a civil rights leader who survived jailhouse beatings in the Deep South in the 1960s and went on to encourage generations to get involved in various causes, has died outside Washington, D.C. at the age of 73.

His daughter Julie Guyot-Diangone said late Saturday that Guyot (pronounced GHEE-ott) died late Thursday or early Friday at a private home in Mount Rainier, Md. She said he had a history of heart problems and suffered from diabetes.

A Mississippi native, Guyot worked for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and served as director of the 1964 Freedom Summer Project, which sought to register blacks to vote despite a history of violence and intimidation by authorities.

Guyot was severely beaten several times during the civil rights era. He continued to push for and speak out on voting rights until his death.