All Stories: 18
Stories
Emmett Till Interpretive Center
The Emmett Till Memorial Commission has done more for the memory of Emmett Till than any other organization in the world. Since its founding in late 2005, the commission has transformed the landscape of Tallahatchie County. They have created a…
The Murder of Clinton Melton
In December 1955, J. W. Milam’s neighbor (and Till murder accomplice) Elmer Kimbrell murdered African American gas-station attendant Clinton Melton. Kimbrell was irate because Melton had filled his entire gas tank instead of simply putting in $2 as…
The Sign at Sharkey Bridge
The Emmett Till Memorial Commission originally planned for only a single river site sign to mark the spot of the body’s recovery. It was to be placed at Graball Landing, 2.6 miles downstream was this site. This sign was a last-minute addition to…
Delta Inn
Built in 1920, the Delta Inn was a mansion that was the center of midcentury Sumner society and, during the trial, the site at which the jury was sequestered. With the help of renowned photographer Maude Schuyler Clay, the Emmett Till Memorial…
Homesite of J. W. Milam
In 2008, the Emmett Till Memorial Commission (ETMC) erected a sign at this spot. Although nothing remains except an overgrown field, in 1955 this was the site of J.W. Milam's home and, critically, his shed.
The sign claims that Till was…
Leflore County Courthouse
On Sunday August 28, 1955, just hours after Till was killed, Leflore County Sheriff George Smith arrested murderer Roy Bryant and booked him into the jail at the Leflore County Courthouse in Greenwood. J. W. Milam was arrested the following day,…
Wright Residence
Emmett Till was kidnapped from this location on the evening of August 28, 1955. He was staying at the home of his great uncle and aunt, Moses and Elizabeth Wright, who sharecropped 25 acres of cotton on the Grover Frederick Plantation.
In the…
King's Place
On Sunday, September 18, 1955, reporter of James Hicks of the Afro-American was in Sumner preparing to cover the Emmett Till murder trial. Looking for a pre-trial story, Hicks stopped by the biracial funeral of “Kid” Townsend—a well-liked black man…
Mound Bayou
Although Mound Bayou is 42 miles away from Sumner, it played an essential role in the Emmett Till trial. The town provided protection for witnesses, a home base for the black press, and a refuge for Till’s mother Mamie-Till Bradley. Without Mound…
Sumner Courthouse
On September 19, 1955, at 9:25 am, the trial of J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant for the murder of Emmett Till opened in this courthouse. It was a sensational, five-day trial. For the first time in history, the northern press descended on a Mississippi…