Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument • IL,MS

Two African Americans sitting in a room and smiling toward the camera.

A multi-story tan brick church along a road. A tree stands in front.

Rows of green seats in a large white room pointed toward a pulpit and a cross on a wall.

An elderly African American man looks at a plaque on the church exterior.

A one story store-like front along a street containing two doors and several windows.

Six chairs sit in a circle in a room that is lined with informational panels.

A table sits besides shelves featuring magazines and books in a white room.

Rows of seats face a bench in an empty courtroom.

Side view of a two-story brick courthouse with a clock tower. A statue stands in front.

View of a muddy river from between two trees.

A gravel road with a field on the left and woods on the right.

In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till traveled to Money, Mississippi, to visit relatives. He was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered after reportedly whistling at a white woman. His mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral near their hometown of Chicago. Her brave decision let the world see the racist violence inflicted upon her son and set the Civil Rights Movement into motion.

Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley, ca. 1954.
NAACP Records, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago.
Battiest Photography / National Trust for Historic Preservation

Present-day photo of the Inside of Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ.
Battiest Photography / National Trust for Historic Preservation

Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr., cousin and last living witness of Emmett Till’s kidnapping, viewing Chicago Landmark plaque on Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ.
Battiest Photography / National Trust for Historic Preservation

The Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, MS, an official nonprofit partner of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument.
NPS / Jay D. Johnson

Interior of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center.
NPS

Interior of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center.
NPS / Jay D. Johnson

Present-day interior view of the Tallahatchie County Courthouse courtroom where the trial of the men accused of lynching Emmett Till took place took place.
NPS / Jay D. Johnson