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The Birth of Emmett Till
Emmett Till was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 25, 1941 to Mamie Carthan and Louis Till. -
Emmett's Early Childhood
In 1942, Mamie and Louis separated because he had been unfaithful. Later Louis came back and choked Mamie to unconciousness and she responded by throwing scaulding hot water at him. Because of violating Court order to stay away from Mamie, the judge told Louis he had to go to jail or enlist in the U.S. Army in 1943. He ended up dying in 1945, when Emmett was 4 years old.
When Emmett was 6 years old he contracted polio. This left him with a consistant stutter. -
Skipping Church
On August 21, 1955 Emmett Till skipped church with some local boys and went to Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market to buy some candy. Carolyn was working the store alone today. Till was dared by some of the other boys to flirt with Mrs. Bryant. He may of whistled at her since he studdered or said something like "Bye baby" or "You needn't be afraid of me, baby, I've been with white women before". She later said that Till had grabbed her around the waist and asked her on a date. -
Finding the Story
When Carolyn told Roy what had happened he aggressinvely questoined several young black men that entered their store. That night, Bryant and J.W. Washington (partner) siezed a young black kid. Carolyn's companion said that they had the wrong kind and that was not the one that flirted with Carolyn.
Somehow, Bryant learned that the kid that had flirted with Carolyn was from Chicago and was staying with Mose Wright. -
The Death of Emmett Till
Between 2:00 and 3:30 in the morning, Bryant, Milam and another man set out to get Till. They went to the Wright house and asked where Till was. They were armed with a pistol and a flashlight. Wright and his wife did all they could to try to persuade them not to take Emmett, but the men said if they reported them, they would kill them. Emmett was taken to multupke places by the man and some others and beaten. He was finally shot either in Milam's shed or by the Tallahatchie River. -
Till's Burial
On September 6, 1955 Till's body was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. When the A. A. Rayner Funeral Home in Chicago received Till's body, his mother insisted on coming in to indentify the body. Mamie said the was no way she could describe what was in that box. She decided to have an open casket funeral to let the world see what these awful men had done to her son. -
The Trial
The trial went of for 5 days. Some attendees said it was very hot. The room was filled to its 280-spectator capacity. In concluding statements, one prosecuting attourney admitted that what Till was wrong, but it warented a spanking, not a murder. In November 1955 a grand jury declined to indict Bryant and Milan for kiddnapping Till even though they had already admitted to it.
