ESTABLISHED: JULY 25, 2023
ACRES: 5.7
The Incident
- What happened to Emmett Till?
- The Allegation: On August 24, 1955, Till visited Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market, where a white cashier named Carolyn Bryant accused him of whistling at her, touching her hand, or making advances.
- The Abduction: In the early morning hours of August 28, 1955, Carolyn’s husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, forced their way into the home of Till’s great-uncle at gunpoint and kidnapped the boy.
- The Murder: The men beat and mutilated Till, shot him in the head, tied a 74-pound cotton-gin fan to his neck with barbed wire, and threw his body into the Tallahatchie River. His body was recovered days later on August 31
- Aftermath
- The Acquittal: In September 1955, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam stood trial in Sumner, Mississippi, and an all-white, all-male jury acquitted them of murder after deliberating for just over an hour.
- Public Confession: Protected by double jeopardy laws, Bryant and Milam later admitted to the killing in a paid interview with Look magazine.
- Recantation: Years later, historian Tim Tyson revealed that Carolyn Bryant Donham confessed to him that she had fabricated the claims that Till touched or made advances toward her.
This is the family home in Chicago, it is being updated and is not open until completion.
HAVE WE LEARNED ANYTHING? STEVE