President Biden establishes Emmett Till national monument, including historic Chicago church

On Tuesday, July 25, President Biden signed a proclamation establishing the Emmett Till and Mamie Mobley National Monument, honoring the life of Emmett Till and contextualizing the black teenager’s 1955 lynching within the Civil Rights Movement. 

The monument spans three locations in Illinois and Mississippi which bear historical significance to Till’s murder, according to a statement by the White House. One location is Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. 

The church bears historical significance as the site of Till’s open-casket funeral, held by his mother, Mamie Till Mobely, to draw attention to her son’s murder. Over 125,000 people attended Till’s funeral on September 3, 1955. 

The monument will also include the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Emmett Till’s assailants were tried and acquitted of his murder, and Graball Landing, where his body was found.

The National Parks Service will manage the monument while working with local communities and additional government organizations to preserve other historic sites related to Till’s life and death.

“Today’s designation honors the tireless efforts of Emmett Till’s family, community and civil rights leaders and local, state and federal elected officials to ensure that these sites are protected and that Emmett Till’s story continues to be told,” said the White House in its statement. 

Born in Chicago in 1941, Emmett Till was 14 years old when he was accused of making inappropriate advances toward a white female grocery store clerk while visiting family in Mississippi. Following the alleged incident, the teen was abducted and murdered by at least two white men. Emmett Till’s lynching and the subsequent acquittal of his attackers would play a significant role in the foundation of the Civil Rights Movement.