Emmett Louis Till, born 25 July 1941.
African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14
after reportedly flirting with a white woman. Till was from Chicago,
Illinois, visiting his relatives in Money, Mississippi, in the
Mississippi Delta region, when he spoke to 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant,
the married proprietor of a small grocery store there. Several nights
later, Bryant's husband Roy and his half-brother J. W. Milam arrived at
Till's great-uncle's house where they took Till, transported him to a
barn, beat him and gouged out one of his eyes, before shooting him
through the head and disposing of his body in the Tallahatchie River,
weighting it with a 70-pound (32 kg) cotton gin fan tied around his neck
with barbed wire. His body was discovered and retrieved from the river
three days later.
Till was returned to Chicago and his mother, who had raised him mostly by herself, insisted on a public funeral service
with an open casket to show the world the brutality of the killing.
Tens of thousands attended his funeral or viewed his casket and images
of his mutilated body were published in black magazines and newspapers,
rallying popular black support and white sympathy across the U.S.
Intense scrutiny was brought to bear on the condition of black civil
rights in Mississippi, with newspapers around the country critical of
the state. Although initially local newspapers and law enforcement
officials decried the violence against Till and called for justice, they
soon began responding to national criticism by defending
Mississippians, which eventually transformed into support for the
killers.
The trial attracted a vast amount of press attention.
Bryant and Milam were acquitted of Till's kidnapping and murder, but
only months later, in a magazine interview, protected against double
jeopardy, they admitted to killing him. Till's murder is noted as a
pivotal event motivating the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
Emmett Louis Till, born 25 July 1941.
African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman. Till was from Chicago, Illinois, visiting his relatives in Money, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta region, when he spoke to 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant, the married proprietor of a small grocery store there. Several nights later, Bryant's husband Roy and his half-brother J. W. Milam arrived at Till's great-uncle's house where they took Till, transported him to a barn, beat him and gouged out one of his eyes, before shooting him through the head and disposing of his body in the Tallahatchie River, weighting it with a 70-pound (32 kg) cotton gin fan tied around his neck with barbed wire. His body was discovered and retrieved from the river three days later.
Till was returned to Chicago and his mother, who had raised him mostly by herself, insisted on a public funeral service with an open casket to show the world the brutality of the killing. Tens of thousands attended his funeral or viewed his casket and images of his mutilated body were published in black magazines and newspapers, rallying popular black support and white sympathy across the U.S. Intense scrutiny was brought to bear on the condition of black civil rights in Mississippi, with newspapers around the country critical of the state. Although initially local newspapers and law enforcement officials decried the violence against Till and called for justice, they soon began responding to national criticism by defending Mississippians, which eventually transformed into support for the killers.
The trial attracted a vast amount of press attention. Bryant and Milam were acquitted of Till's kidnapping and murder, but only months later, in a magazine interview, protected against double jeopardy, they admitted to killing him. Till's murder is noted as a pivotal event motivating the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman. Till was from Chicago, Illinois, visiting his relatives in Money, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta region, when he spoke to 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant, the married proprietor of a small grocery store there. Several nights later, Bryant's husband Roy and his half-brother J. W. Milam arrived at Till's great-uncle's house where they took Till, transported him to a barn, beat him and gouged out one of his eyes, before shooting him through the head and disposing of his body in the Tallahatchie River, weighting it with a 70-pound (32 kg) cotton gin fan tied around his neck with barbed wire. His body was discovered and retrieved from the river three days later.
Till was returned to Chicago and his mother, who had raised him mostly by herself, insisted on a public funeral service with an open casket to show the world the brutality of the killing. Tens of thousands attended his funeral or viewed his casket and images of his mutilated body were published in black magazines and newspapers, rallying popular black support and white sympathy across the U.S. Intense scrutiny was brought to bear on the condition of black civil rights in Mississippi, with newspapers around the country critical of the state. Although initially local newspapers and law enforcement officials decried the violence against Till and called for justice, they soon began responding to national criticism by defending Mississippians, which eventually transformed into support for the killers.
The trial attracted a vast amount of press attention. Bryant and Milam were acquitted of Till's kidnapping and murder, but only months later, in a magazine interview, protected against double jeopardy, they admitted to killing him. Till's murder is noted as a pivotal event motivating the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
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