This Day in History: Emmett Till Is Murdered
- 5 years ago
This Day in
History: Emmett
Till Is Murdered.
August 28, 1955.
The 14-year-old Chicagoan
was murdered while visiting
family in Money, MS.
Unprepared for the level of
racism in Mississippi, Till had openly
flirted with a white woman — Carolyn
Brandt — on a dare from his friends.
Four days later, the woman's
husband Roy and her brother
J.W. Milam drove to where Emmett was
staying and kidnapped him from his family.
Emmett was beaten, his eyes
gouged out, shot in the head,
chained to a cotton gin fan and
then thrown into the Tallahatchie River.
Though he had been violated beyond
recognition, when his body was found,
Till's mother demanded he be displayed
in an open casket for his funeral.
Despite outrage sparked by
a photo of Emmett in his coffin,
it took an all white jury less than an
hour to acquit the two men of murder.
History: Emmett
Till Is Murdered.
August 28, 1955.
The 14-year-old Chicagoan
was murdered while visiting
family in Money, MS.
Unprepared for the level of
racism in Mississippi, Till had openly
flirted with a white woman — Carolyn
Brandt — on a dare from his friends.
Four days later, the woman's
husband Roy and her brother
J.W. Milam drove to where Emmett was
staying and kidnapped him from his family.
Emmett was beaten, his eyes
gouged out, shot in the head,
chained to a cotton gin fan and
then thrown into the Tallahatchie River.
Though he had been violated beyond
recognition, when his body was found,
Till's mother demanded he be displayed
in an open casket for his funeral.
Despite outrage sparked by
a photo of Emmett in his coffin,
it took an all white jury less than an
hour to acquit the two men of murder.