A National Monument for Emmett Till

On July 25, 2023, on what would have been Emmett Till’s eighty-second birthday, President Biden signed a proclamation making three sites associated with his legacy, two in Mississippi and one in Chicago, national monuments. In doing so, fourteen-year-old Till’s brutal murder—and his mother’s selflessness in ensuring his life was not taken in vain—are finally being acknowledged as an integral chapter of our nation’s history.

“That is like our nation's way of saying that this is as much of America as the geography,” said Benjamin Saulsberry, Public Engagement and Museum Education Director for the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, Mississippi. “This is as much of our nation's narrative as any and every other park service, and a monument that speaks to the identity of our society.  So in addition to that, that affords us I think an opportunity for a larger audience of persons to come into these narratives concerning not just race and racism, but in some ways what racial reconciliation could look like.”

In August of 1955, fourteen-year-old Emmett Till convinced his mother to let him travel from their home in Chicago to visit his cousins in Money, Mississippi. Despite his mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s concerns about her son’s safety in the racially-fraught South, she allowed him to take the Illinois Central’s City of New Orleans train to Mississippi. While there, what should have been a carefree childhood summer came to an abrupt and horrifying halt after Emmett joined his cousin and their friends at Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market to purchase candy. Store owner Carolyn Bryant, who has since changed her story when speaking with author Timothy Tyson for his 2017 book, claimed that Emmett made inappropriate advances toward her, violating the strict social codes that existed between Black and white individuals in the South at the time. 

“This is as much of our nation's narrative as any and every other park service, and a monument that speaks to the identity of our society.  So in addition to that, that affords us I think an opportunity for a larger audience of persons to come into these narratives concerning not just race and racism, but in some ways what racial reconciliation could look like.” —Benjamin Saulsberry

This alleged flirting resulted in her husband Roy Bryant and his brother J.W. Milam abducting Till from his uncle’s home at 2 am, beating him brutally in a nearby barn, then bringing the badly-beaten Till to the nearby Tallahatchie River where he was shot in the head and his body was weighed down with a cotton gin fan attached to his neck with barbed wire before being thrown in the river. Not only were both murderers and everyone involved in the abduction completely acquitted by the all-white jury, but Bryant and Milam eventually admitted to the murder in detail for an interview with Look magazine, which paid them $4,000 for their participation in the story. 

Because of Mamie Till-Mobley’s bravery in insisting on her son’s open casket funeral, and the resulting outrage-provoking media coverage of his badly-beaten body, Till is regarded today as one of the first martyrs of the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech was delivered on the eight-year anniversary of the lynching, and Rosa Parks cited Till as inspiration for her own protest, which further launched the movement. Now, Till and Mamie Till-Mobley’s contributions to the fight for equal rights for all will be solidified on the American landscape. 

“It is without a doubt that the bravery and in fortitude of Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley would give way to not just people becoming aware of the conditions and circumstances that Black folks face, primarily in the South, but not exclusive to the South—her decisions gave way to, dare I say, the modern Civil Rights Movement,” Saulsberry said.

The sites that have been designated national monuments include the Graball Landing where Till’s body was recovered, the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse where his murderers were tried and acquitted, and the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago where Till’s open-casket funeral was held. 

“Having our government put in place for perpetuity a protection of this story points to, in my opinion, the continued efforts of people all across the country who are willing to one, recognize our history, recognize our past, recognize the customs and practices that, to say the least, have done a disservice to us,” said Saulsberry. “But then also looking at the importance of choosing to be brave, choosing to be girded with the truth, to be girded with objective history. And then using that knowledge to create a path where Americans and others can come into these spaces and learn about the bravery of citizens, and the stories that make up our country. The fact that we have this site as a national monument, that has the same protections as a national park, being within a national power unit, speaks to, I think, our ever-continued commitment to being better, and calling all of us to be better one visit and one story at a time.”

While an important development, the designation of these sites does not come with national funding. To learn more or donate to this and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center’s other efforts to uplift the legacies of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley, visit emmett-till.org.