Emmett Till

Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American teenager from Chicago who was abducted, tortured, and murdered in Mississippi in 1955.

Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American teenager from Chicago who was abducted, tortured, and murdered in Mississippi in 1955. His killing and the widely publicized aftermath became a major catalyst for the U.S. civil rights movement.

Early life

Emmett Till was born in Chicago in 1941 and was raised there by his mother, Mamie Till. He was an only child and was 14 years old when he died. In the summer of 1955, he was visiting relatives in Mississippi.

Murder and trial

In August 1955, Till was kidnapped in Mississippi after an alleged encounter at a store. He was beaten, shot, and thrown into the Tallahatchie River. Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam kidnapped, beat, and murdered him; they were acquitted by an all-white jury.

Civil rights legacy

The brutality of Till’s murder, along with the public response to his open-casket funeral, helped galvanize national attention to racial violence and civil rights. His death became one of the defining events that energized the modern civil rights movement.

Burial and memorialization

Till was buried in Burr Oak Cemetery in Illinois. His grave and memory have remained important sites of remembrance and civil rights history. His mother, Mamie Till, held an open-casket funeral that drew national attention.