Emmett Till and His Mother's Legacy: Everything You Need to Know 70 Year's Later
Q1: Why did Mamie Till-Mobley insist on an open-casket funeral?
A1: She wanted the entire world to witness the graphic reality of racial terror. Knowing that Mississippi officials sought to cover up the crime, she recognized that displaying her son's physical body was the only way to eliminate doubt about the severity of Southern violence.
Q2: Who took the famous photograph of Emmett Till in his casket?
A2: David Jackson took the photograph on assignment for Jet magazine at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago. The picture ran in the September 15, 1955 issue, serving as a primary information channel for the Black community when mainstream white outlets refused to print it.
Q3: Were Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam ever punished for the lynching?
A3: An all-white, all-male jury acquitted Bryant and Milam after deliberating for just over an hour in September 1955. Months later, protected by double jeopardy laws, the killers sold their detailed confession to Look magazine for $3,150, openly admitting they beat and shot Till. Neither served prison time for the murder.
Q4: Where is the original casket today?
A4: The original casket is preserved at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. It was recovered from Burr Oak Cemetery in Illinois in 2009 after Till’s body was exhumed during a federal investigation.
