Emmett Till Murder, 1955

Who was Emmett Till?

Emmett Till was an African American boy from Chicago who was brutally murdered by two white men in Mississippi.

When did the murder of Emmett Till happen?

Emmett Till was murdered on 28th August, 1955.

Where did the murder of Emmett Till happen?

The murder took place in Drew, Mississippi, around 30 miles away from Money, Mississippi.

How old was Emmett Till when he was murdered?

Emmett Till was 14 years old when he was murdered.

Why was Emmett Till murdered?

It is not clear exactly what happened in the shop. The 2 main theories are:

• ❖ Emmett Till wolf-whistled at the white shop keeper, Carolyn Bryant.
• ❖ Emmett Till was accused of 'talking inappropriately' to Carolyn Bryant, saying: 'Bye, baby' to her.

What happened to Emmett Till before and when he was murdered?

There were 6 key events around Emmett Till's murder:

• ❖ Emmett Till was from Chicago and arrived in Money, Mississippi on 21st August, 1955. He was visiting his great uncle, Moses Wright.
• ❖ He visited Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market with some friends to buy sweets on 24th August.
• ❖ Emmett might have either wolf-whistled at or spoken to the white shopkeeper, Carolyn Bryant, in a way considered inappropriate at that time.
• ❖ At 2.30am on 28th August, Roy Bryant and his half-brother, J W Milan, kidnapped Emmett. They took him at gunpoint from his great uncle Moses' house.
• ❖ Emmett was driven to a farm in Drew, Mississippi, where he was brutally beaten and then driven to the Tallahatchie River and shot.
• ❖ The killers then disposed of Emmett's body in the Tallahatchie River. His body was found on 31st August.

Who murdered Emmett Till?

Emmett Till was murdered by Roy Bryant, the shopkeeper's husband, and J W Milam, Bryant's half-brother.

What happened after Emmett Till was murdered?

There were 3 key events after Emmett Till's body was found:

• ❖ His mother, Mamie Till, insisted on his body being returned to Chicago and an open-casket funeral was held which thousands of people attended.
• ❖ His murder was reported worldwide and resulted in a huge outcry at the treatment of African Americans in the USA.
• ❖ On 19th September, the murder trial of Roy Bryant and J W Milam began.

What happened to the people who murdered Emmett Till?

There were 4 main events connected to the murderers:

• ❖ Roy Bryant and J W Milan were arrested in September 1955.
• ❖ There was a short trial.
• ❖ The NAACP protected Emmett Till's great uncle, Moses Wright, as he was a witness at the trial and had received death threats from the KKK.
• ❖ They were found not guilty by an all-white jury on 23rd September.

What caused outrage about the murder of Emmett Till?

Emmett Till's murder caused outrage for 3 main reasons:

• ❖ Although it was not unusual for an African American boy to be murdered in Mississippi, the killing caused outrage among both the African American and white communities in the north.
• ❖ The fact that the two accused men, Roy Bryant and J W Milam, were found not guilty caused outrage across the world.
• ❖ It demonstrated that African Americans could not get justice in America because of the prejudice of all-male and all-white juries and judges.

Why did the murder of Emmett Till have such importance?

There were 4 main reasons the murder of Emmett Till was important:

• ❖ The growth of the civil rights movement was fuelled by the murder of Emmett Till.
• ❖ For the first time, many white Americans saw the extreme racism faced by African Americans living in the south.
• ❖ More African Americans were encouraged to take part in civil rights protests and bring about change.
• ❖ The murder inspired Rosa Parks to refuse to move on the bus in Montgomery in December 1955.