Emmett Till:

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Emmett Till

• A True Story

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Emmett Louis Till was born in Chicago on July 25,
1941. Emmett was the only child of Louis and
Mamie Till
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"He loved to tell jokes," said his cousin,
Wheeler Parker. "He would pay people to tell him
jokes."
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Emmett Till was a 14 year-old boy from Chicago.
His great-uncle Moses Wright took him to
Mississippi to visit relatives in August 1955.
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Courtesy of Special Collections University of
Memphis Library
One Sunday, Emmett and some friends went to buy
bubble gum at the Bryants Grocery Store in
Money, Mississippi. It was owned and operated by
Roy and Carolyn Bryant.
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On the evening of August 24, 1955, Emmett Till
went with his cousins and some friends to
Bryant's Emmett walked in and bought two cents'
worth of bubble gum. Though exactly what happened
next is uncertain, Emmett flirted with, whistled
at, or touched the hand or waist of Carolyn.
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At about 230 a.m. on August 28, under the cover
of darkness, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam showed
up at Moses Wrights home, where Emmett was
staying, and took him away. Emmett was never
seen alive again.
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Milam (l) and Bryant (r) during the trial
Milam and Bryant were put on trial for the murder
of Emmett Till. In 67 minutes, the verdict came
back as Not Guilty.
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After the trial, the two brothers gave an
interview in Look Magazine, confessing to the
murder. No legal action was ever taken.
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The death of Emmett Till helped launch the Civil
Rights Movement that changed the United States
forever! It was less than 100 days after his
death that Rosa Parks refused to stand up on a
bus and Martin Luther King, Jr. took up the Civil
Rights cause.
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Nobody paid for the crime for killing Emmett
Till. Can you believe that happened less than 65
years ago in the UNITED STATES?
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All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is
that good men do nothing. Edmund Burke