Emmett Till
Page 88
Till family members pose in front of newly unveiled marker at the Sumner courthouse, October 2, 2007. From left: Wheeler Parker Jr., Marvel Parker, Simeon Wright, and Annie Wright. Author’s collection.
Former Tutwiler Funeral Home in Tutwiler, Mississippi, is one of many Emmett Till–related sites in Tallahatchie County that are part of the Tallahatchie County driving tour. Till’s body was embalmed here on August 31–September 1, 1955. Author’s collection.
Sign on Highway 49 E in Greenwood, Mississippi. The stretch of highway between Greenwood and Tutwiler was renamed the Emmett Till Memorial Highway in 2005. Author’s collection.
Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center (ETHIC), which opened in Glendora, Mississippi, in 2006. The museum is housed in an old cotton gin. Author’s collection.
Courtroom in the Tallahatchie County courthouse, August 2014. One of the main endeavors of the Emmett Till Memorial Commission was to secure funding to renovate the courthouse and restore the courtroom to its 1955 appearance as a way of saving the dilapidated building and increase tourism. Eupora, Mississippi, architect Belinda Stewart led the efforts. The final price tag for the restoration was around $3 million. Author’s collection.
Jury box in restored courtroom in Sumner, Mississippi. Author’s collection.
Patrick H. Weems, director of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center. The facility is located on the north side of the town square in Sumner, Mississippi, and faces the courthouse. It is housed in the old Wong grocery building, serving as an outlet for telling and understanding the impact of the Till murder. Patrick H. Weems. Printed by permission.
Sign in front of the Bryant store in Money, Mississippi, was the first of several dedicated in May 2011 as part of the Freedom Trail, which celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Mississippi Freedom Riders. Author’s collection.
From left: Attorney General Eric Holder, Wheeler Parker Jr., and Alvin Sykes. The men met in early 2009 to discuss the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Act with the new Obama administration. The bill had been signed by President George W. Bush in October 2008. Courtesy of Alvin Sykes.