Emmett Till family retraces his train ride on 70th anniversary of his death
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Family photos show Emmett Till. During the summer of 1955. Till was murdered while visiting relatives in Mississippi. Photo: Ovie Carter/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The family of Emmett Till has re-created his 1955 train ride from Chicago to Mississippi as part of efforts to mark the 70th anniversary of his brutal lynching, which helped spark the Civil Rights Movement.
Why it matters: The commemoration comes as states pass laws limiting the discussion of racism in public schools and President Trump orders the restoration of memorials to racist Confederate figures in public spaces.
Driving the news: The family left Wednesday night from Chicago's Union Station and arrived in Greenwood, Miss., on Thursday morning, on the anniversary of his murder.
- It was a similar ride that Till, a 14-year-old Black boy, took seven decades ago to visit family in Mississippi before he was killed.
- The Emmett Till Interpretive Center and the National Parks Conservation Association organized the ride.
- Passengers included the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr. — Till's cousin and the last living eyewitness to his kidnapping—Parker's wife, Dr. Marvel Parker, and Juliet Louis, widow of sharecropper Willie Reed, who reported Till's death and testified at the murder trial.
- As teens, Rev. Parker and Till took a train from Union Station to Mississippi to see relatives.
What they're saying: "We're not here to stir up animosity or hate, but to remind people of how far we've come and how much progress we've made," Rev. Parker told WBBM-TV.
- "I'm always reminded of the suffering and price that he paid, but we've come a long way."
Context: In 1955, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam lynched Till after Bryant's wife, Carolyn Bryant Donham, accused Till of propositioning her despite witness accounts saying he whistled at her.
- Till crossed paths with Donham, who was then 20, at the grocery store she ran with her husband in Mississippi.
- Within days, Donham's husband and brother-in-law abducted and lynched Till after brutally mutilating his body.
An all-white jury cleared the two white men in 1955, though they admitted to killing Till in an interview a year later.
- Till's case brought international attention to the racism and inequities in the U.S. justice system that many feel still exist today.
- In 2008, Donham reportedly recanted her allegation that Till had harassed her before his murder, though federal investigators say she later denied doing so. She died in 2023.
- The U.S. Department of Justice in 2021 formally closed its second investigation into the 1955 murder.
Zoom out: The Emmett Till Interpretive Center will commemorate the 70th anniversary by hosting a series of activities from Thursday to Saturday at Mississippi Valley State University and the barn where Till was lynched in Drew, Miss.
- Events include a theatrical performance, three panel discussions, and a memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony.
- The Chicago History Museum is also hosting an exhibit, Injustice: The Trial for the Murder of Emmett Till.
- "We will continue to use this horrific tragedy...Emmett Till's murder, as a constant reminder of how we have to continue to fight for justice," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson told Axios.
- "I stand on the shoulders of those incredible ancestors and giants," Johnson said, referring to Till's family and other civil rights leaders.
Flashback: Former President Biden in March 2022 signed into law the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, which made lynching a federal hate crime in the U.S. for the first time in history.
- More than 200 other attempts to codify federal anti-lynching legislation failed.
Go deeper: White woman at the center of Emmett Till lynching dies
