The Murder of Emmett Till
History: KS3, topic 21.1.8
The Murder of Emmett Till 1955
Emmett’s murder fuelled the growth of the Civil Rights movement by showing how outrage and media coverage could gain support.
Emmett Till
- Emmett Till was a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago in the North.
- In 1955 he was visiting family in Mississippi.
- He was dared by local boys to go into Roy Bryant’s shop and talk to Bryant’s wife Carolyn.
A dare
- According to some accounts, Emmett wolf-whistled at Carolyn, but she claimed he grabbed her and made inappropriate suggestions.
- Exactly what happened in the store is disputed to this day.
- When her husband heard the story the next day, he and his half-brother went to Emmett’s uncle’s house and kidnapped him.
Emmett's murder
- They beat him, shot him and threw his body in the river with a heavy weight around his neck, attached with barbed wire.
- His body was not found until three days later.
- Emmett’s mother took his body back to Chicago and had an open casket funeral, so everyone could see what had happened.
Outrage in the North
- The murder of a black boy was not unusual in Mississippi, but caused outrage in the North, from both black and white people.
- Roy Bryant and his half-brother were cleared of the murder by a court in Mississippi, despite later admitting their guilt in a magazine article that they were paid $3500 for.
‘M is for Mississippi and Murder’
- Emmett’s murder fuelled the growth of the Civil Rights movement by showing how outrage and media coverage of injustice could gain support.
- The NAACP even produced a leaflet called ‘M is for Mississippi and Murder’.
Test yourself on The Murder of Emmett Till
How long did it take to find Emmet Till's body?