Items and Collections

Date of Original
1955/1956

Subject
African American youth--Violence against--Mississippi
African Americans--Violence against--Mississippi--History--20th century
African Americans--Mississippi
Hate crimes--Mississippi
Lynching--Mississippi--History--20th century
Mississippi--Race relations
Racism--Mississippi--History--20th century
Trials (Murder)--Mississippi--Sumner

People
Till, Emmett, 1941-1955
Milam, J. W.
Till-Mobley, Mamie, d. 2003
Adams, Sherman, 1899-1986
Hoover, J. Edgar (John Edgar), 1895-1972
Hagerty, James C. (James Campbell), 1909-1981
Morrow, E. Frederic (Everett Frederic), 1909-
Wilkins, Roy, 1901-1981
Sengstacke, John Herman Henry, 1912-1997
Anderson, Dillon, 1906-1974
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
Brownell, Herbert, Jr., 1904-1996
Till, Emmett, 1941-1955--Death and burial
Milam, J. W.--Trials, litigation, etc.
Till-Mobley, Mamie, d. 2003--Correspondence
Adams, Sherman, 1899-1986--Correspondence
Hoover, J. Edgar (John Edgar), 1895-1972--Correspondence
Hagerty, James C. (James Campbell), 1909-1981--Correspondence
Morrow, E. Frederic (Everett Frederic), 1909- --Correspondence
Wilkins, Roy, 1901-1981--Correspondence
Anderson, Dillon, 1906-1974--Correspondence
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969--Correspondence

Location
United States, Mississippi, Tallahatchie County, 33.95047, -90.17326
United States, Mississippi, Tallahatchie County, Sumner, 33.97095, -90.3687

Medium
texts (document genres)
letters (correspondence)
memorandums
telegrams

Type
Text

Description
This online collection contains a telegram from the Chicago Defender to the White House about the kidnapping and lynching of Emmett Louis Till on September 1, 1955; a letter from J. William Barba, Assistant to the Special Counsel of the President to the Chicago Defender on September 2, 1955, a telegram from Mrs. Mamie Bradley, mother of Emmett Till, to President Eisenhower on September 2, 1955; a document summarizing letters sent to President Eisenhower submitted to the Department of Justice by Chief-of-Staff Sherman Adams on September 6, 1955; a letter from J. Edgar Hoover to Dillon Anderson, Special Assistant to the President about The Communist Party?s campaign protesting the murder of Emmett Till; a letter form Dillon Anderson to J. Edgar Hoover; a memorandum from the National Administrative Committee about the Emmett Louis Till lynching; a letter from J. Edgar Hoover to Dillon Anderson on October 11, 1955; a letter from William Nunn of the Pittsburgh Courier to Cabinet Secretary Maxwell Rabb suggesting officials make a statement condemning the Emmett Till lynching; a letter from J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to Dillon Anderson providing a copy of letter issued by Communist Party, USA to exert pressure against the Eisenhower administration in regards to the Emmett Till lynching; a memorandum for the Record deploring the Emmett Till lynching from E. Frederic Morrow, Eisenhower?s Administrative Officer for Special Projects; a memorandum from E. Frederic Morrow to Maxwell Rabb; a letter from Roy Wilkins, Executive Director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to E. Frederic Morrow; a memorandum from Maxwell Rabb to James Hagerty, Press Secretary about Mrs. Mamie Bradley alleged involvement with the Communist Party; and a memorandum from Maxwell Rabb to James Hagerty on October 24, 1956.
"In August 1955, a fourteen year old African American boy from Chicago named Emmett Till went to visit relatives near Money, Mississippi. While he had experienced racial discrimination in his hometown of Chicago, he was unaccustomed to the severe segregation he encountered in Mississippi. Soon after talking in too friendly a manner with a young white woman in a store, he was kidnapped in the night at gunpoint and brutally murdered by two white men. He was badly beaten before being shot and the corpse was nearly unrecognizable. His mother insisted on an open casket funeral in Chicago and news of Emmett Till's murder shocked America and the world. An all-white jury failed to convict the accused murderers, adding a further sense of injustice. The case is viewed as a turning point in the civil rights movement because of the notoriety it gave to the plight of African Americans in the South."--Eisenhower Library Web page.
The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata.

Metadata URL
https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/civil-rights-emmett-till-case

Contributing Institution
Dwight D. Eisenhower Library

Rights