Published: Jan. 05, 2010
Words: 67,961 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9780982604922

Short description

Susan Klopfer moved to the Mississippi Delta in 2003 as the Emmett Till cold case was re-opened by the FBI. Living at Parchman Penitentiary due to her husband's employment, a notorious compound with a fascinating history, she had the opportunity to take a fresh look at this civil rights ground-breaking event and to meet some of the people who still had the story fresh in their hearts and minds.

Extended description

"I think that every time a man stands for an idea or speaks out against injustice, he sends out a tiny ripple of hope."

Aaron Henry (July 2, 1922 - May 19, 1997), an American civil rights leader, politician, and head of the Mississippi branch of the NAACP.

Who Killed Emmett Till? “is an important eBook for teachers, students, and for anyone who does not know the story," says author Susan Klopfer. The book has been nominated for a Global eBook Award. (Read more) "I think that every time a man stands for an idea or speaks out against injustice, he sends out a tiny ripple of hope."

Aaron Henry (July 2, 1922 - May 19, 1997), an American civil rights leader, politician, and head of the Mississippi branch of the NAACP.

Who Killed Emmett Till? “is an important eBook for teachers, students, and for anyone who does not know the story," says author Susan Klopfer. The book has been nominated for a Global eBook Award.

The 14-year-old Southside Chicago school boy's 1955 murder in Mississippi became a rallying point for the modern civil rights movement in the U.S., and was a key factor in moving Rosa Parks to sit at the front of a city bus in Montgomery.

When he was only 14 years old, Till left his home by train into rural Mississippi to visit relatives. "His mother knew he liked to play tricks, so she warned him not to do so while in Mississippi, to be safe."

But the South was in an uproar over the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 decision (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka), which overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine allowing racial segregation in public facilities. Then came Brown II in 1955, delegating courts to carry out school desegregation "with all deliberate speed."

Till’s great-uncle, Moses Wright, accompanied him on the train, traveling to the Delta only three months after Rev. George Lee's murder, an outspoken NAACP leader who lived in a nearby town, Belzoni.

Till first helped with the cotton harvest and household chores but wasn't used to hard labor, so he was sent back to the Wright home to help with household chores.

On August 24, Till and his cousins went to a local grocery store and someone dared Till to talk to the store's cashier, Carolyn Bryant, a white woman. Reportedly, Till whistled at the woman as he was leaving.

In the early morning hours of August 28, Roy Bryant, the cashier's husband, and J.W. Milam, Bryant's half brother, kidnapped Till at gunpoint. Till was severely beaten, taken to the banks of the Tallahatchie River and shot in the head. The two men tied his body to a large metal fan with barbed wire and dumped the corpse into the river.

"When his body arrived in Chicago, there were photographs in Jet magazine and the Chicago Defender, and his murder became a rallying point for the civil rights movement," Klopfer said.

"Even foreign journalists wrote about this murder; it was a key issue in the world-wide coverage of civil rights brutalities in the United States."

After four days of testimony and a little more than an hour of deliberation, an all-white, all-male jury acquitted Bryant and Milam of all charges. They later confessed to the kidnapping and murder.
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Tags

american history, black history, civil rights, african american history, emmett till, rosa parks, mississippi delta, delta blues, modern civil rights movement, lynching, cold cases, aaron henry, fannie lou hamer, civil rights martyrs

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Videos

Who Killed Emmett Till?
An examination of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, including why the case was reopened. This is the first segment in a one hour documentary and is an excellent video. You will see the place where it all started -- the old store in Money, Mississippi. Excellent narration and history by Ray Metoyer, an Atlanta-based producer.

Reviews

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Review by: Sharon E. Cathcart on Aug. 23, 2011 :
This was not an easy book to read. Klopfer presents an in-depth look at the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till, as well as the murders of civil rights activists like Cleve McDowell, Berdia Kegler and Adlena Hamlett.

Klopfer began researching the Till murder when her husband accepted a job at Parchman Penitentiary, just outside the town of Drew, Missisippi (where the murder occurred). There were people still living in the town who remember the case and were willing to talk with her -- although almost always on the condition of anonymity.

The two men accused of murdering Till were acquitted by an all-white jury -- and subsequently confessed what they had done in a magazine. Because of double jeopardy, they could not be retried. These are things that most people aware of the Emmett Till murder can tell you. What Klopfer brings to the table are first-person accounts of other lynchings, murders and bombings throughout the region as African-Americans asserted their right to equal protection under the law.

This is an unflinching book that looks at inequality in a way that should make most people think very hard. Highly recommended.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Max G. Bernard on March 15, 2010 :
This is a well-written and fascinating book about a vicious lynching of an African-American teenager from Chicago while visiting Mississippi. His mother insisted on an open coffin for the services so that people could see what was done to her son. The author explains the history, demands justice, talks with some of those still alive who, as she says, "still had the story fresh in their hearts and minds." After you read this book, the events will live in your heart and mind too, because she makes it come alive. This is highly recommended. And it is a good book to give to young people, and assign to students. (There are many available resources online like the above video and an online one hour interview with Emmett Till's mother that can also supplement this book for teaching purposes. I look forward to this author's future work.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

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