Chicago Tour

Argo Corn Products

How the Great Migration Shaped the Life of Emmett Till

In 1923, Wiley Carthan left Mississippi on the Illinois Central Railroad, heading for Chicago. He settled just outside the Chicago city limits in the town of Argo, Illinois. Argo’s real name was Summit, but the largest corn processing plant in the world—the maker of Karo syrup, Bosco malted milk,…
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Till's Boyhood Home

Surrounded by family and friends from a young age, Till never outgrew his love for his boyhood community.

On July 25, 2021, this site became a memorial. To participate in the memorial, and help fund the education of underpriviledged youth, contribute to the field of memorial bricks here. We usually think of Emmett Till as a Chicagoan. He did live on the segregated South Side during his last few years,…
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A Home in Chicago

Till's Ill-Fated Trip to Mississippi Began at This House

In November 1951, ten-year old Emmett, his mother Mamie Till-Bradley, and her new husband Pink Bradley moved into a two-flat home in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. Less than two years earlier, Mrs. Till and Emmett had left their comfortable community in Argo for an…
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Robert's Temple Church of God in Christ

It was in Chicago that the Emmett Till lynching became a world-wide story

Hours after Till’s body was discovered protruding from the Tallahatchie River, Mississippi authorities began to bury the body—and the story—in a rural cemetery at a rural church deep in the Mississippi Delta. Had Till’s mother Mamie Till-Mobley not intervened and reclaimed her son’s body, Till’s…
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Burr Oak Cemetery

Till's final resting spot has never been without drama

Emmett Till’s funeral began shortly after his body came home to Chicago. The A. A. Rayner Funeral home opened its doors for the initial viewing on Friday, September 2. On Sunday, Till's body was moved to the Robert’s Temple of the Church of God in Christ for a deeply emotional service. The church…
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