Emmett Till Biography

(Victim of Racial Violence)

Birthday: July 25, 1941 (Leo)

Born In: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Emmett Till was an African-American teenager who was brutally murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman. His death, which took place at the time when racial hatred and crimes against blacks were mounting, marked a turning point in the emerging Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Till was just 14 years old when he was accused of misbehavior by a white woman who alleged that he made sexual advances towards her and tried to molest her. Days later, the teenager’s badly mutilated body was pulled out of a river, shocking the American society. Enraged by the brutality with which her only son had been murdered, Emmett’s mother held an open funeral which allowed the public to view the teenager’s body. This shocking incident helped shed light on racial violence and lynching of blacks that was so prevalent in the Mississippi area at the time. While it was public knowledge that the boy had been kidnapped by the woman’s husband and a relative, Till’s family could never bring the murderers to justice despite their desperate attempts. Though the law enforcement officials initially demanded justice for the boy, the killers were not convicted even after they publically admitted to the crime. This shocking incident, however, helped galvanize the African-Americans to spring into action and start the Civil Rights Movement.
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Quick Facts

Also Known As: Emmett Louis Till

Died At Age: 14

Family:

father: Louis Till

mother: Mamie Till

Born Country: United States

African Americans American Male

Height: 1.63 m

Died on: August 28, 1955

place of death: Money, Mississippi, United States

City: Chicago, Illinois

Cause of Death: Killed

U.S. State: Illinois

Diseases & Disabilities: Polio

More Facts

education: Mccosh Elementary School

  • 1

    What happened to Emmett Till?

    Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American boy who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman.

  • 2

    What was the impact of Emmett Till's murder?

    Emmett Till's murder catalyzed the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, drawing attention to the systemic racism and violence faced by African Americans.

  • 3

    Who was responsible for Emmett Till's murder?

    Two white men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were accused of kidnapping and killing Emmett Till. They were acquitted by an all-white jury but later admitted to the crime in a magazine interview.

  • 4

    Why did Emmett Till's mother choose to have an open casket funeral?

    Emmett Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, chose to have an open casket funeral to show the world the brutality of racism and the violence her son had endured.

  • 5

    How did Emmett Till's murder case impact the legal system in the United States?

    Emmett Till's murder case highlighted the injustices faced by African Americans in the legal system, leading to increased scrutiny and calls for civil rights reform.

Childhood & Early Life
Emmett Louis Till was born on July 25, 1941, in Chicago, Illinois, USA, to Mamie Carthan and Louis Till. His parents separated when Emmett was very young and he was raised by his mother and grandmother.
He contracted polio as a young boy because of which he developed a persistent stutter. He grew up to be a happy child who loved playing pranks on others.
His mother went on to marry a man named “Pink” Bradley. However, this marriage too did not last long.
For several years, Emmett and his mother lived in Chicago's South Side, near extended relatives. His mother was a very brave woman who managed to land a job as a civilian clerk for the U.S. Air Force. Thanks to her job, she was able to provide a fairly comfortable life for her only son.
Emmett was a well-built boy. Stocky and muscular at the age of 14, he was already beginning to look like an adult.
In August 1955, Emmett’s great uncle Mose Wright came to visit them from Mississippi. He told many interesting tales about life in Mississippi which captured the imagination of the young teenager. Curious to know more about Mississippi, he decided to visit the place himself.
Emmett asked his mother to allow him to go to Mississippi with his uncle. His mother Mamie, who was aware of the racial violence in Mississippi, hesitated to grant him permission to visit the place. But the teenager was persistent and finally convinced his mother to let him go.
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Murder & Aftermath
Emmett arrived at Mississippi on August 21, 1955. His uncle Mose Wright was a sharecropper and part-time minister. While he was busy with his work, Emmett would play with his cousins and other black boys in the neighborhood.
On August 24, 1955, Emmett and some of the other teenagers went to buy some refreshments from ‘Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market,’ which was owned by a young white couple, 24-year-old Roy Bryant and his 21-year-old wife Carolyn Bryant.
According to one of the boys whom Emmett had befriended, Emmett had boasted to his playmates that he once had a white girlfriend back at home. The other boys did not believe him and dared him to go and speak to the white lady at the shop. Emmett accepted the challenge and walked inside the shop to speak to the white woman.
What happened inside the shop is disputed. Different sources give different accounts of what transpired. While the white woman in question, Carolyn Bryant, stated that the boy flirted with her, touched her hand, and even grabbed her by the waist, Emmett Till's cousin Simeon Wright challenged her story. Simeon Wright said that he followed Emmett into the store, less than a minute after Emmett had entered, and saw no inappropriate behavior by his cousin. It was also alleged that the black boy whistled as he left the store, though it is not known whether he whistled at the woman or at his playmates.
A few days later, in the early morning of August 28, 1955, the woman’s husband Roy Bryant, accompanied by his half-brother John William "J. W." Milam, arrived at Mose Wright’s house and forcibly kidnapped Emmett Till.
The men brutally assaulted the boy, tortured him, shot him in the head, tied him with barbed wire to a large metal fan, and threw his body into the Tallahatchie River.
Meanwhile, Emmett’s relatives had contacted Leflore County sheriff George Smith who questioned Bryant and Milam in connection with Emmett’s disappearance. The men admitted that they had held the boy captive but claimed that they had released him the same day.
Things took a shocking turn when Emmett’s naked, badly mutilated, and bloated body was retrieved from the river three days after his abduction. There was evidence of severe injuries on the body which suggested that the teenager had been tortured and shot to death.
The murder sent shock waves throughout the nation. Even though racially motivated murders were not uncommon in the region, the brutality of the crime and the circumstances surrounding it forced people to reconsider racial segregation, discrimination, and law enforcement.
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Devastated by the shocking murder of her only son, Mamie insisted on an open casket funeral. Thousands of people came to see the teenager’s bloated and mutilated body. Publications like ‘The Chicago Defender’ and ‘Jet’ magazine published pictures of the body which caught the attention of the international media and forced people to reconsider the rights of the blacks in the U.S. South.
The trial of Roy Bryant and Milam began in September 1955. The men were tried before an all-white, all-male jury. In a display of great courage, Mose Wright identified Roy Bryant and Milam as Emmett Till's kidnappers and killers. This was a very brave move; it was not common for blacks to openly accuse whites in courts at the time.
Emmett Till’s family and supporters fought hard for justice. However, in spite of the overwhelming evidence against Bryant and Milam, both the men were acquitted of all charges. Hardly a few months after their acquittal, Bryant and Milam admitted to committing the crime to ‘Look’ magazine. However, they were protected by double jeopardy laws, a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction.
The black community and the civil rights activists, both black and white, were enraged after Bryant and Milam’s admission to the crime and pushed the federal government to investigate the case. Emmett Till’s murder served as a catalyst in the African-American Civil Rights Movement and played a pivotal role in the passage of the ‘Civil Rights Act of 1957.’
In 2017, more than 60 years after young Till’s death, Timothy Tyson released crucial details from a 2008 interview of Carolyn Bryant. In the interview, she had admitted to making up the story that Emmett had hurled obscenities at her. She also said that she had lied about the boy grabbing her waist.
‘The U.S. Department of Justice,’ in its report to Congress in 2018, stated that it was reopening the investigation due to unspecified new information.
Legacy
The brutal murder of Emmett Till continued to haunt American citizens for long, as evident by the number of books, documentaries, and songs that either focused on the case or allude to the murder. Author William Faulkner wrote two essays on Till, while James Baldwin’s 1964 drama ‘Blues for Mister Charlie’ was loosely based on Till’s case. It is also believed that the character of ‘Tom Robinson’ in Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is based on Emmett Till.
‘James McCosh Elementary School’ in Chicago, where Till once studied, was renamed ‘Emmett Louis Till Math and Science Academy’ in 2005.
Facts About Emmett Till

Emmett Till was known for his outgoing personality and love for playing pranks on his friends and family.

He had a passion for collecting and trading comic books, a hobby that brought him joy and excitement.

Emmett was a talented storyteller and often entertained those around him with his vivid imagination and quick wit.

He had a strong sense of curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, always eager to learn new things and explore different perspectives.

See the events in life of Emmett Till in Chronological Order

How To Cite

Article Title
- Emmett Till Biography
Author
- Editors, TheFamousPeople.com
Website
- TheFamousPeople.com
URL
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/emmett-till-6682.php

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