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…

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 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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Operated by town Mayor Chick Nelson, the Tutwiler Funeral Home played an essential role in the acquittal of the murderers and in the dissemination of a once-common myth that Till had not been killed. During the Till trial of September 1955,…

Graball Landing sits at the confluence of the Tallahatchie River and the Black Bayou. Many locals believe that it is the site where Till’s body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River. Since April 2008, the site has become the focus of national…

This building is a testament to the ingenuity of Glendora Mayor Johnny B. Thomas. Originally the Glendora Cotton Gin, Thomas transformed this building into the only Till Museum in the world: the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center (the ETHIC…