Part 1: Before the Murder

Part 2: The Incident at Bryant’s Grocery & Meat Market – The Whistle

Part 3: When Men Came Knocking

August 30, 2025 was the 70^th anniversary of the vicious murder of a 14-year-old Black boy named Emmett Till. In 1955, Emmett Till from Chicago was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi, when he made an unforgiveable mistake in the south—he whistled at a white woman named. Three days later, the woman’s husband, brother-in-law and others took Emmett from his bed, tortured and then killed him, dumping his body in the Tallahatchie River. Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, put her son’s mutilated and bloated body on public display in her Chicago church. Some 50,000 people viewed Emmett’s body. A murder trial quickly followed, but the defendants, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were found not guilty.

The murder and the trial horrified the nation and the world. Till’s death was a spark that helped mobilize the civil rights movement. (American Experience) Three months later, Rosa Parks said she thought of Emmett when she refused to give up her seat on the bus, spurring the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The late Rep. John Lewis linked the racial injustice he witnessed as a youth, with the violence that led to the recent Black Lives Matter movement. “Emmett Till was my George Floyd,” Lewis stated in a posthumous op-ed in the New York Times. “He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor.” Lewis realized Emmett could easily have been him. (Emmett Till my George Floyd says John Lewis)

Following is a summary of the events leading up to Emmett’s killing, the kidnapping/murder, the trial, subsequent events surrounding the incident and its impact on family members. Sources include books, articles, filmed interviews, websites, podcasts, trial transcripts, and White House and FBI letters and reports. Whenever possible, I have cited the source of my findings. I gave deference to first-person accounts of family members and trial transcripts if any accounts/information differed. It is my hope that by educating readers with the facts about this murder and its impact on the nation, we can all work to prevent hate crimes like these from ever happening again. 

Part 1: The Beginning: Before the Murder

Saturday, August 20, 1955

Although Mamie Till-Mobley agreed to let Emmett visit relatives in the south, she had her reservations. Did she make it clear enough to him in her warnings that things were different down there. That he had to watch what he said and how he acted, always say “No sir. No ma’am.” Step off the curb if a white woman approaches. Don’t look her in the eye. Wait until she passes by, then get back on the sidewalk, keep going, don’t look back. If you have to humble yourself, then just do it. Get on your knees, if you have to.” (Death of Innocence by Mamie Till-Mobley/Christopher Benson, page 101) She would have years to contemplate.

Mamie and her family were aware of the violent reactions to “social transgressions” by Blacks. She had been born in the south, but her family had brought her to Chicago when she was only two years old, though they continued to visit family back home. Jim Crow laws, put in place after Reconstruction following the Civil War, had been designed to “keep Blacks in their place” and make it nearly impossible for Blacks to register to vote and, therefore, serve on juries. This animosity was exacerbated by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, which overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine established in Plessy v Ferguson (1896) that had allowed racial segregation in public facilities. (Britannica biography Emmett-Till) Public facilities, including schools, were now to be racially integrated. This federal interference angered those in the south.

Emmett, who had just turned fourteen years old, was traveling with his great uncle, Moses Wright, who was visiting Chicago for a funeral. Also with them was Emmett’s cousin and best friend Wheeler Parker Jr., aged sixteen. Wheeler was Moses’ grandson. They were passengers on the City of New Orleans—a train line that crossed through northern states, then through southern states all the way down to New Orleans. They met Moses at the Englewood Station at Sixty-third and Woodlawn in Chicago, leaving at 8:01 am. (Death of Innocence, page 104)

Mamie packed her son food to take with. Emmett’s lunch box contained his favorite dark meat fried chicken, cake, some treats Emmett had bought himself and a drink—all neatly packed in a shoe box—the same kind of packed lunch Mamie had herself when traveling south as a child. (Death of Innocence, page 104) The trio started in the regular passenger compartments at the beginning of the trip. But, as was custom and law, once they crossed the Mason Dixon line, they had to move to the colored section—directly behind the engine, spewing its soot and smoke.

At 7:25 that Saturday night, the train arrived in Grenada, Mississippi. Papa Moses and the boys were met by Maurice Wright, the oldest son of Papa Moses and Aunt Lizzie. Maurice was waiting with the family’s 1946 Ford sedan for the thirty-mile drive down marked roads and dusty gravel roads to the Wright house on Dark Fear Road just outside of Money. (Simeon’s Story, page 41; Death of Innocence, page 106) 

Moses and Elisabeth Wright lived in a large ranch house in the Mississippi Delta. Moses raised cotton, but worked for himself. His “boss” was a German man named Grover Frederick. By all accounts Frederick treated Moses fairly, leaving Moses with a profit every year that he used to support his family through the winter. The Wrights had two ample vegetable gardens behind their home, as did many Blacks at the time, including those up north. This gave them fresh vegetables through the summer and canned goods through the winter. His boss had wanted to take away the gardens and plant cotton right up to the house, but Moses had pushed back strongly and was allowed to keep his vegetable gardens. (Death of Innocence, pages 108-109) Not all Blacks were that lucky.

The first night was a celebration of Moses’ return and the visit from their Chicago relative. During his visit, Emmett, called “Bobo” by his family, regaled them with stories of Chicago—picnics, swimming and events at Lincoln Park; the animals at Lincoln Park Zoo; and the rides and roller coaster of Riverview Amusement Park. (Innocence, page 112; Simeon, page 43) Emmett showed off his Frankenstein comic book and his father’s silver ring, engraved with Louis Till’s initials. (Innocence, page 112) Simeon admired the ring so much, Emmett let him wear it for a couple of days. (Simeon’s Story, page 42)

Three of Moses’ sons were currently staying at the house: Maurice, Robert and Simeon Wright. (Tragedy on Trial, page 15, from trial transcripts). Emmett slept in one of four bedrooms, sharing a bed with Moses’ son Simeon, while Robert slept in another bed. Curtis Jones (who arrived from Chicago a week later) slept in one of the guest bedrooms, Wheeler Parker and Maurice Wright in another, and Moses and Elizabeth/Lillybeth Wright in the final bedroom. The home had a kitchen, dining room, storage room and three porches—the large front screened-in porch spanning the length of the front, a back porch and a side porch. (Simeon’s Story, page 56)

Sunday, August 21, 1955

Early in the trip, Emmett began to see just how different things were. After they bought fireworks from Mr. Wolf’s store in Money, Emmett unexpectedly lit some in front of the store. His cousin Simeon chastised Emmett, as you couldn’t set off firecrackers within the city limits. Simeon later recounted that Emmett wasn’t trying to be funny—he just didn’t know the rules. (Simeon’s Story, page 42)

Emmett’s dress also distinguished him from his cousins. Bobo wore khaki pants or dress pants, short-sleeved cotton shirts, penny loafers and a “Sunday” hat, while his cousins dressed in nylon shirts, overalls and blue jeans.(Simeon’s Story, pages 42 and 45) 

Monday, August 22, 1955

Monday was the start of cotton harvest on the sharecropper farm, and Moses had thirty acres to pick, which meant all hands-on deck. Emmett and Wheeler begged to join them in the fields. Cotton picking was “sun to sun”—with occasional afternoons off. But Emmett was not cut out for the drudging toil of picking. The air was heavy, the sun hot, the heat relentless, with no shade. He dragged his nine-foot sack behind him, but was unable to keep up, not picking his share. (Simeon’s Story, page 44)

That night, he told his Aunt Lizzie/Lizzy that’s “it’s too hot and I can’t stand the heat.” Moses relented—Emmett was excused from working the fields. Unlike his cousins, Emmett was allowed to stay home and help his aunt with the household tasks. (Simeon’s Story, page 45) Emmett often helped his mother, Mamie, who worked full-time at her Social Security Administration job. He swept, mopped, waxed, did laundry and even cooked dinner, though Mamie said it was sometimes hard to swallow down his “pepper” corn, laced with too much black pepper for her taste. (Innocence, pages 61 and 83)

Later that evening, Emmett and his cousins were hanging out with several other boys from near-by plantations, one of whom had a gun. Up drove a 17-year-old Black boy named Fletcher, who threatened to take to gun. Fletcher had a higher standing, as he drove a tractor for the owner of his plantation, and was “mean as a snake.” When the group did not stand up to him, going silent, Emmett later struck out at his cousins. “How can you let someone come on your turf and strut his stuff? You can’t allow anyone to come around and disrespect you like that. We would never tolerate this in Chicago.” (Simeon’s Story, pages 46-47)

But this was not Chicago. 

Tuesday, August 23, 1955

Emmet waited for his cousins to return from the fields, so he could continue his antics and his storytelling. Simeon said Emmett might have grown up to be a comedian as he could recite all the routines of all the top ones on television—Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Abbott and Costello, and George Gobel. (Simeon’s Story, page 47) 

In an effort to entertain the Chicago boys, Emmett’s cousins “borrowed” some melons from a watermelon patch, throwing them on the ground to crack them open, exposing the sweet center flesh. Later, they headed down to the water, running out the snakes before going in to swim. (Simeon’s Story, pages 48-49) The visit was going well. 

Part 2: The Incident at Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market

Wednesday, August 24, 1955

After his cousins returned from working in the fields, Emmett, Simeon, Wheeler, Maurice, and two neighbors, loaded into the old Ford to travel for some candy and perhaps a cold RC cola to cool down. (Simeon’s Story, page 49) [In his book, The Barn, Wright Thompson identified the two neighbors as Ruthie Mae Crawford and Roosevelt Crawford, but Simeon Wright insisted more than fifty years later that Ruthie wasn’t there. (The Barn, page 239) Timothy Tyson, in his book, The Blood of Emmett Till, stated that six boys and one girl made the trip: Emmett, Maurice, Wheeler, Simeon, and neighbors Thelton “Pete” Parker, Ruthie Mae Crawford, eighteen, and her uncle Roosevelt Crawford, fifteen. (The Blood of Emmett Till, page 51)] Maurice, the oldest of the Wright brethren at sixteen years old, took the wheel as the sun was just disappearing over the horizon. There were no adults along as Maurice had dropped off Moses and Elizabeth at church. Per Moses’ directive, the teens were only supposed to go to the little country store out in East Money on the plantation, as Maurice had no license. (The Barn, pages 239-240; The Blood of Emmett Till, page 51) Instead, they travelled further to Money, Mississippi, to Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market. (Simeon’s Story, page 49) It would turn out to be a horrible mistake.

Although accounts differ as to what Emmett said or did that evening, personal accounts by both Simeon and Maurice indicate nothing inappropriate happened in the store. Emmett followed Wheeler into the store. When Wheeler returned to the porch to eat his ice cream cone, Maurice noticed Emmet had not yet come out and sent Simeon in to get him, and to make sure Emmett was watching his manners. Nothing seemed amiss. Emmett had his two cents’ worth of bubble gum American Experience: Getting Away with Murder) and Bryant did not seem flustered in any way. Simeon and Emmett left the store together, and the sharecroppers on the porch continued their checker games as the boys watched. (Interview of Wheeler Parker with Dave Tell and Theon Hill, May 11, 2023; the Chicago Crusader) Emmett had been alone in the store with Carolyn Bryant for less than a minute. (Simeon’s Story, page 50) 

Some speculate that Emmett may have brushed Carolyn’s hand when giving her his money instead of putting the money on the counter, a social code that a black man was never to touch a white woman. Did Emmett flirt with her? Maybe? Maurice Wright said Emmett told Carolyn Bryant “Goodbye” as he left the store, but did not say “ma’am.”(The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi, Wright Thompson, page 243) Moses said in the days before the incident, Emmett has delighted in not adopting that little soul-crushing bit of deference. (The Barn, page 243.) Did Emmett grab her by the waist and propose sex with her, as Carolyn Bryant later testified? The latter seems highly unlikely. As Simeon noted in his book, a counter separated the customers from the store clerk; Bobo would have had to jump over it to get to Mrs. Bryant. (Simeon’s Story, pages 50-51) The width of the big glass cases (serving as the counter) was too great for people to, say, hug. (The Barn, page 242) And further, Emmett had a pronounced lisp, a result of having polio at age six, (Innocence, pages 37-40) so likely could not have even gotten those words out. If Carolyn Bryant had called out, if voices had been raised, the Black checker players on the porch would have heard them—the screens were open, with sound floating freely from inside to out, and vice versa. (The Barn, page 241) But for that single minute, no one was in the store except Carolyn and Emmett. Only the two of them knew what truly transpired.

Then, for reasons that are unclear, Carolyn Bryant exited the store. Perhaps, as Parker speculated, she was curious about all the talking and laughing on the porch. (Wheeler Parker oral history interview by Joseph Mosnier, Library of Congress) Perhaps, she went to get something out of her sister-in-law’s car, parked alongside the store. (The Barn, page 243) Some think she looked mad and was going to get her gun. In her memoir, Carolyn said she had looked for the gun inside the store, and realizing it was in the car, had gone out to get it. (The Barn, page 252) Others believe the whistle is what prompted her to want to get the gun. (The Barn, page 243)

The Whistle

What is not denied is that as Carolyn Bryant headed toward the vehicle, Emmett whistled—a long, shrill “whee wheeeee!” that Simeon described as a wolf whistle. (Simeon’s Story, page 51, NPR Simeon Death and multiple other sources) The whistle broke the peaceful night air. Emmett’s cousins grew stiff, looking at each other in fear and panic, knowing that Emmett had broken a social taboo about conduct between Blacks and whites in the South. (Simeon’s Story, page 51) Carolyn now hurried her pace to her car, and kids there said she was going for a gun. (American Experience emmett-biography) The checker players scrambled off the porch. Sensing danger, the cousins gathered Emmett and raced toward the Wright’s car. It was only then that Emmett, the jokester, realized he had done something very wrong. (Simeon’s Story, page 51) 

As they tumbled in, Maurice hesitated. Simeon described the scramble to pick up a lit cigarette that had fallen on the floor. (Simeon’s Story, page 51; The Barn, page 244) Once found, the boys yelled for Maurice to “drive!” and they sped off down the dark road. Soon, they saw headlights and feared for their lives. “They’re after us!” Chicago Sun-Times Wheeler Parker Eyewitness) Maurice knew he couldn’t outrun another car in the old Ford, so pulled over and the boys jumped out, racing into the cotton fields, unopened bolls scratching their legs, causing Wheeler and Bobo to fall to the ground. Simeon, afraid he couldn’t catch up or that he might get lost, stayed in the car, but slipped down in the seat out of view. (Simeon’s Story, page 52) But the car passed by—just a neighbor going home. (Innocence, pages 122-123) No one was after them, yet.

Emmett begged his cousins not to tell his great-uncle, for fear he’d be sent back, ending his vacation early. They agreed. They returned home without mentioning the incident to Moses. They kept Emmett’s secret. (Simeon’s Story, page 53)

Thursday, August 25, 1955

At daybreak, Emmett’s cousins headed for the cotton fields. In the evening, a neighbor girl, Rutha/Ruthie Mae Crawford, told Moses and Elisabeth what happened, and warned that these white men would not take this lightly. Trouble was brewing. “You’re going to hear more about this. We know these people.” (Simeon Oral History, Library of Congress.) She suggested Emmett should leave for Chicago immediately. 

Friday, August 26, 1955

The day passed without incident. It had been several days now since the wolf whistle at the Bryant grocery store. The boys felt that the danger had died down.

Saturday, August 27, 1955

The young folk were excited for a big night in Greenwood—a big city in comparison to the rural life they lead, with juke joints, movie theaters, ice cream shops and vendors selling hot tamales, fried fish and foot-long hotdogs. Maurice, Bobo, Wheeler and neighbor Roosevelt Crawford walked the main strip, Johnson Street, looking into nightclubs and watching people dance through the smoke. (The Barn, page 247) Simeon, garnering a ride from Roosevelt’s older brother John Crawford, watched a western movie. Their final stop was a house party on the Four Fifths Planation northwest of Greenwood, a “juke joint.” They arrived home after midnight. (Simeon’s Story, pages 54-55; The Barn, pages 247-248) [In the trial transcripts, Moses stated he went with the youngsters, (Tragedy on Trial, page 15) but neither Simeon nor Wheeler ever mention that Moses accompanied them.] Curtis Jones, Willie Mae’s son, another of Emmett’s cousins, had arrived at Moses’ home from Chicago during their outing. (Innocence, page 115) Robert had stayed home to listen to his favorite radio program, Gunsmoke. (Simeon’s Story, page 54)

Part 3: When Men Came Knocking

Sunday, August 28, 1955

Early Sunday morning at about 2:00-2:30 am, three men appeared on Moses’ porch—two white and one black. The first white man was Roy Bryant. The other white man was tall and large, brandishing a flashlight in his left hand and his Ithaca .45 in his right. (The Barn, page 258) That man was J.W. Milam.

(The rest of the text in this section is taken directly from the trial transcripts of Moses’ testimony, from Tragedy on Trial, pages 15-25, unless otherwise noted)

Bryant had awakened Moses by calling his nickname, “Preacher!”

“Who is it?” Moses asked.

“This is Mr. Bryant.”

“Yes, sir,” Wright said and opened the door to find Milam in the doorway, Bryant standing somewhat behind him, and the third man by the screen door. [The third man Moses surmised was Black because he stayed in the background outside with his head down to hide himself, acting like a Black man. (The Barn, page 258) Many believe that black man was Johnny Washington, who hung around the Bryant store. Moses Wright believed Washington told Milam and Bryant where Emmett was staying and accompanied them to Wright’s home. Nobody could ever prove it. (The Barn, page 255)]

“You got two boys from Chicago?” Milam asked.

“Yes sir,” Moses replied, thinking of Wheeler and Emmett.

“I want that boy who done the talking down at Money,” Milam said.

Moses led Milam and Bryant through the house—first past the bedroom of Wheeler and Maurice, Milam shining the flashlight across their faces, past the second bedroom where Curtis still slept soundly without ever waking (The Barn, page 260, quoting Simeon Wright), to the final bedroom, where Emmett and Simeon lay sleeping. 

Moses shook Emmett awake. Milam spoke in the dark.

“Are you the one who did the smart talk up at Money?”

“Yeah,” Emmett said.

“Don’t you ‘yeah’ me. I’ll blow your head off. You say ‘Yes, sir.’ ” (The Barn, pages 260-261)

Milam instructed Emmett to get up. Emmett sat on the side of the bed and dressed, insisting they wait while he put on his sox before putting on his shoes. Once Emmett rose, the three of them started out. The Wrights begged them not to take Emmett. Moses suggested that they just whip Emmett, that Emmett didn’t know what he’d done since he wasn’t from the south. (Source?) Elizabeth approached the men, pleading that “we will pay you whatever you want to charge if you will just release him. We’ll pay for whatever he might have done if you just let him go.” 

The men did not reply to the offer. Milam instructed her to “get back in bed—I mean I want to hear the springs squeak.” 

Milam then asked Moses, “Do you know anyone here?” Moses responded that he did not.

“How old are you?”

“Sixty-four.”

“Well, if you know any of us here tonight, then you will never live to be sixty-five.”

They took Emmett out to their car as Moses stood by the screen door at the front of house. Moses heard the men ask if this was the boy, and someone said “Yes,” in a voice lighter than a man’s. 

Moses believed until his dying day that the voice in the truck was Carolyn Bryant’s. (The Barn, pgs 262-263)

After the men left with Emmett, Elizabeth Wright ran next store to their white neighbors and begged to use the Chamblee’s’ phone. Mrs. Chamblee wanted to help, but her husband, “the straw boss,” said no. Robert, Maurice and Curtis still slept soundly. Wheeler and Simeon stayed frozen in fear in the darkness. Wheeler decided if the men returned, he would run, even putting on his shoes in preparation. 

“It was horrible,” Wheeler later said. “It seemed like day would never come.” (The Barn, page 261.)

Anxiously, the family waited for first light. Moses thought they would just whip him and bring him back. In fact, Bryant and Milam said if Emmett wasn’t the one, they’d bring him back and put him to bed.

But that’s not what happened. They never saw Emmett alive again.

To Come in Future Blogs:

Details of Emmett’s Disappearance

Summary of the Trial and How It Was Rigged from the Beginning

The Black Press and the Emmett Till Murder