How old is Emmett Till?

Emmett Till was an African-American teenager whose tragic murder became a pivotal moment in the American civil rights movement. Born Emmett Louis Till in 1941 in Chicago, he was raised by his mother after his father passed away when Emmett was four. As a child, he faced health challenges, including polio and stuttering, but recovered in his early teens.

In the summer of 1955, while visiting relatives in a small town in Mississippi, Emmett allegedly spoke to Carolyn Bryant, an event later cited as the reason for a violent retaliation. A few days later, Bryant’s husband and his half-brother abducted Emmett, brutally tortured him, and killed him, eventually disposing of his body in the Tallahatchie River. When his body was discovered three days later, it was returned to Chicago and displayed in an open casket, revealing the horrific violence he had suffered.

Despite the overwhelming evidence, the court acquitted the two men responsible for his death. They later admitted to the crime, and Carolyn Bryant eventually acknowledged fabricating key parts of her story. Emmett Till’s murder shocked the nation and galvanized public attention, becoming a catalyst for the civil rights movement and a symbol in the struggle for racial equality in the United States.

Related Important People Birthdays