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Mims in Brevard County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
 

Emmet Till

Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore Memorial Park

 
 
Emmet Till Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brandon D Cross, July 21, 2021
1. Emmet Till Marker
Inscription.
On Aug. 20, 1955, Emmett Till, a 14-year old Black youth from Chicago arrived in Money, Mississippi by train, along with a cousin, 16-year old Wheeler Parker Jr. They had accompanied Till’s great uncle and Parker’s grandfather, Moses Wright, who was returning home to the Mississippi Delta after a brief trip up North. Four days latter, Emmett, several cousins, and a few neighbor kids drove into town to the Bryant Grocery and Meat Market, where 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant was working behind the counter. Till entered the store and purchased bubble gum; when he left, Carolyn followed him to the door. A Northerner unfamiliar with Southern etiquette, he then waved, said "goodbye" (not "goodbye, ma'am"), and, according to family members, directed a wolf-whistle at the young white woman. She became upset and went toward a car – to get a gun, according to trial testimony. Till and his frightened companions got in their own car and sped off toward home.

Three days later, at around 2 a.m., the woman’s husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, forced their way into the Wright home, grabbed Till out of bed at gunpoint, and took him away. Three days later, Till’s beaten, swollen, and decomposing body surfaced in the Tallahatchie River and was discovered by a young fisherman. He had been weighted down with a 75-pound cotton
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gin fan. Till’s shocking murder became national and then international news after his mother insisted on an open-casket funeral so the world could see what happened to her son. Photographs of Till’s battered face ran in the black press, and tens of thousands of Chicago mourners filed past his coffin over a five-day period.

Milam and Bryant were arrested just after the abduction and went on trial for murder on Sept. 19, 1955. An all-white jury acquitted them five days later. The Till murder remains one of the most brutal in American history, and the trial verdict is considered one of the nation’s great injustices.
 
Erected by Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore Memorial Park.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African AmericansCivil RightsLaw EnforcementNotable Events. A significant historical date for this entry is August 20, 1955.
 
Location. 28° 39.228′ N, 80° 50.777′ W. Marker is in Mims, Florida, in Brevard County. Marker can be reached from Freedom Avenue, 0.3 miles south of Parker Street, on the left when traveling south. The marker stands within the Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore Memorial Park and Museum. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2180 Freedom Avenue, Mims FL 32754, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Virgil D. Hawkins – April 1949 (a few steps from this
Emmet Till Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brandon D Cross, July 21, 2021
2. Emmet Till Marker
marker); Eatonville (a few steps from this marker); Rosewood Massacre - 1921 (within shouting distance of this marker); Juneteenth (within shouting distance of this marker); 99th Fighter Squadron (within shouting distance of this marker); Violence In Hemming Plaza (within shouting distance of this marker); Medgar Evers (within shouting distance of this marker); Dr. Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mims.
 
Also see . . .  Emmett Till. (Submitted on August 10, 2021, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)
 
Additional keywords. Jim Crow South
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on August 11, 2021. It was originally submitted on August 10, 2021, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 368 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on August 10, 2021, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024