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Emmett Till

Emmett TillAKA Emmett Louis Till

Born: 25-Jul-1941
Birthplace: Chicago, IL
Died: 28-Aug-1955
Location of death: Money, MS
Cause of death: Murder
Remains: Buried, Burr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, IL

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: Black
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Victim

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Black boy murdered brutally in Mississippi

Emmett Till, a black boy from a Chicago, was visiting his grandfather and grand-uncle Mose Wright in the town of Money, Mississippi, population about 360. Although warned by his mother not to talk to whites, he disregarded that warning, saying "Bye, baby" to Carolyn Bryant, a white woman working at Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market. Till and his cousin, Curtis Jones, were told to leave town. They did not. One week later, J. W. Milam and his half-brother Roy Bryant arrived at Wright's house, and abducted the "nigger here from Chicago." They beat him to death, gouging out one of his eyes, and dumped his weighted body into the Tallahatchee River. An all-white jury found the two not guilty. Emmett's mother, Mamie, insisted on an open-casket funeral where his beaten, pulpy face was visible to the public, hoping her child did not die in vain.

Father: Louis Till (d. 1945 execution for murder, in Italy)
Mother: Mamie Till-Mobley (b. 23-Nov-1921, d. 6-Jan-2003, heart failure)

    Kidnapped 28-Aug-1955
    Shot 28-Aug-1955
    Exhumed 31-May-2005
    Autopsy
    Risk Factors: Polio, Stuttering



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