Emmett Till: Body, Death, Funeral & Face | HISTORY (2024)

Emmett Till, a 14-year old Black youth, was murdered in August 1955 in a racist attack that shocked the nation and provided a catalyst for the emerging civil rights movement. A Chicago native, Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi, when he was accused of harassing a local white woman. Several days later, relatives of the woman abducted Till, brutally beating and killing him before disposing of his body in a nearby river. Till’s devastated mother insisted on a public, open-casket funeral for her son to shed light on the violence inflicted on Black people in the South. Till’s murderers were acquitted, but his death galvanized civil rights activists nationwide.

Early Years

Emmett Louis Till was born on July 25, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois, the only child of Louis and Mamie Till. Till never knew his father, a private in the United States Army during World War II.

Emmett Till’s mother was by all accounts an extraordinary woman. While raising Emmett Till as a single mother, she worked long hours for the Air Force as a clerk in charge of secret and confidential files.

With his mother often working more than 12-hour days, Till took on his full share of domestic responsibilities from a very young age. His mother recalls, “Emmett had all the house responsibility. I mean everything was really on his shoulders, and Emmett took it upon himself. He told me if I would work, and make the money, he would take care of everything else. He cleaned, and he cooked quite a bit. And he even took over the laundry.”

Emmett Till

Carolyn Bryant

In August 1955, Till’s great uncle Moses Wright came up from Mississippi to visit the family in Chicago. At the end of his stay, Wright was planning to take Till’s cousin, Wheeler Parker, back to Mississippi with him to visit relatives down South. When Till learned of these plans he begged his mother to let him go along.

Three days after arriving in Money, Mississippi, on August 24, 1955, Emmett Till and a group of teenagers entered Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market to buy refreshments after a long day picking cotton in the hot afternoon sun. What exactly transpired inside the grocery store that afternoon will never be known.

Till purchased bubble gum, and some of the kids with him would later report that he either whistled at, flirted with, or touched the hand of the store’s white female clerk Carolyn Bryant, the owner's wife.

Four days later, at approximately 2:30 in the morning on August 28, 1955, Roy Bryant, Carolyn’s husband, and his half-brother J.W. Milam kidnapped Till from Moses Wright’s home. They then beat the teenager brutally, dragged him to the bank of the Tallahatchie River, shot him in the head, tied him with barbed wire to a large metal fan and shoved his mutilated body into the water.

Did you know? In 2009, the original glass-topped casket that Emmett Till was buried in was acquired by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Body and Open-Casket Funeral

Till’s body was shipped to Chicago, where his mother opted to have an open-casket funeral with Till’s body on display for five days. Thousands of people came to the Roberts Temple Church of God to see the evidence of this brutal hate crime.

Till’s mother said that, despite the enormous pain it caused her to see her son’s dead body on display, she opted for an open-casket funeral to “let the world see what has happened, because there is no way I could describe this. And I needed somebody to help me tell what it was like.”

In the weeks that passed between Till’s burial and the murder and kidnapping trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, two Black publications, Jet magazine and the Chicago Defender, published graphic images of Till’s corpse. By the time the trial commenced on September 19, Emmett Till’s murder had become a source of outrage and indignation throughout much of the country.

How Emmett Till’s Murder Galvanized the Civil Rights MovementThe alleged motive behind Emmett Till's 1955 lynching may have been based on a lie, but the brutal crime inspired a new wave of activism.Read more
The Unsolved Mystery of the First People Killed During the Civil Rights MovementLaw enforcement knew who killed Harry and Harriette Moore on Christmas in 1951. So why wasn’t justice served?Read more

Trial and Acquittal

Because Black people and women were barred from serving jury duty, Bryant and Milam were tried before an all-white, all-male jury. In an act of extraordinary bravery, Moses Wright took the stand and identified Bryant and Milam as Till’s kidnappers and killers. At the time, it was almost unheard of for Black people to openly accuse whites in court, and by doing so Wright put his own life in grave danger.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of the defendants’ guilt and widespread pleas for justice from outside Mississippi, on September 23 the panel of white male jurors acquitted Bryant and Milam of all charges. Their deliberations lasted a mere 67 minutes.

Only a few months later, in January 1956, Bryant and Milam admitted to committing the crime. Protected by double jeopardy laws, they told the whole story of how they kidnapped and killed Emmett Till to Look magazine for $4,000.

Coming only one year after the Supreme Court‘s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education mandated the end of racial segregation in public schools, Till’s death provided an important catalyst for the American civil rights movement.

9 Civil Rights Leaders You Need to Know

Emmett Till Film and Legacy

In 2007, over 50 years after the murder, the woman who claimed Till harassed her recanted parts of her account. Speaking to a historian, the 72-year-old Carolyn Bryant Donham admitted Till hadn’t grabbed her. “Nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him,” she told Timothy B. Tyson, who was writing a book about the case. The revelations weren’t made public until 2017, when the book was released.

In 2018, following Donham’s admission, the Justice Department opened a new inquiry into the case. And in 2022, an arrest warrant for Carolyn Bryant Donham was discovered in the files of a Mississippi courthouse basem*nt. Till’s family members have demanded that the warrant, dated to 1955, should finally be served. Donham died in 2023.

In 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which makes lynching, kidnapping and other acts a federal hate crime. Civil rights supporters had been pushing for such an act for more than a century, since the days of the anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells. In July 2023, Biden signed a proclamation to establish a national monument, the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, across three sites in Illinois and Mississippi.

A film about Emmett Till and his family, entitled Till, premiered in 2022. The film was directed by Chinonye Chukwu and written by Chukwu, Michael Reilly and Keith A. Beauchamp. (Beauchamp also produced the 2005 documentary, The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till.)

Emmett Till: Body, Death, Funeral & Face | HISTORY (4)

A look at one of the defining social movements in U.S. history, told through the personal stories of men, women and children who lived through it.

Sources

The Murder of Emmett Till. Library of Congress.
Emmett Till. FBI.
Emmett Till's family seeks the arrest of a woman after a 1955 warrant is found. NPR.
Biden signs bill named after Emmett Till making lynching a hate crime. NBC News.

Biden signs bill to establish Emmett Till monument. AP News
H.R.55 - Emmett Till Antilynching Act. Congress.gov.

Emmett Till: Body, Death, Funeral & Face | HISTORY (2024)
Top Articles
Karol Markowicz Says She Used to Feel Safe as a Jew in NYC, Not Anymore (10 minutes)
Karol Markowicz | NY Post Columnist | 06-14-24
Spasa Parish
Rentals for rent in Maastricht
159R Bus Schedule Pdf
Sallisaw Bin Store
Black Adam Showtimes Near Maya Cinemas Delano
Espn Transfer Portal Basketball
Pollen Levels Richmond
11 Best Sites Like The Chive For Funny Pictures and Memes
Finger Lakes 1 Police Beat
Craigslist Pets Huntsville Alabama
Paulette Goddard | American Actress, Modern Times, Charlie Chaplin
Red Dead Redemption 2 Legendary Fish Locations Guide (“A Fisher of Fish”)
What's the Difference Between Halal and Haram Meat & Food?
R/Skinwalker
Rugged Gentleman Barber Shop Martinsburg Wv
Jennifer Lenzini Leaving Ktiv
Justified - Streams, Episodenguide und News zur Serie
Epay. Medstarhealth.org
Olde Kegg Bar & Grill Portage Menu
Cubilabras
Half Inning In Which The Home Team Bats Crossword
Amazing Lash Bay Colony
Juego Friv Poki
Ice Dodo Unblocked 76
Is Slatt Offensive
Labcorp Locations Near Me
Storm Prediction Center Convective Outlook
Experience the Convenience of Po Box 790010 St Louis Mo
Fungal Symbiote Terraria
modelo julia - PLAYBOARD
Poker News Views Gossip
Abby's Caribbean Cafe
Joanna Gaines Reveals Who Bought the 'Fixer Upper' Lake House and Her Favorite Features of the Milestone Project
Tri-State Dog Racing Results
Navy Qrs Supervisor Answers
Trade Chart Dave Richard
Lincoln Financial Field Section 110
Free Stuff Craigslist Roanoke Va
Wi Dept Of Regulation & Licensing
Pick N Pull Near Me [Locator Map + Guide + FAQ]
Crystal Westbrooks Nipple
Ice Hockey Dboard
Über 60 Prozent Rabatt auf E-Bikes: Aldi reduziert sämtliche Pedelecs stark im Preis - nur noch für kurze Zeit
Wie blocke ich einen Bot aus Boardman/USA - sellerforum.de
Infinity Pool Showtimes Near Maya Cinemas Bakersfield
Dermpathdiagnostics Com Pay Invoice
How To Use Price Chopper Points At Quiktrip
Maria Butina Bikini
Busted Newspaper Zapata Tx
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Stevie Stamm

Last Updated:

Views: 6312

Rating: 5 / 5 (60 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Stevie Stamm

Birthday: 1996-06-22

Address: Apt. 419 4200 Sipes Estate, East Delmerview, WY 05617

Phone: +342332224300

Job: Future Advertising Analyst

Hobby: Leather crafting, Puzzles, Leather crafting, scrapbook, Urban exploration, Cabaret, Skateboarding

Introduction: My name is Stevie Stamm, I am a colorful, sparkling, splendid, vast, open, hilarious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.