Timeline of the Murder of Emmett Till

1941

July 25: Emmett Louis “Bobo” Till is born to Louis Till and Mamie Till.

1945

Louis Till dies while serving in the Army in Europe. Among his possessions given to Mamie Till was a ring with the initials L.T. inscribed on it.

1955

August 19: Mamie Till gives Emmett his father’s ring.

August 20: Emmett and his cousin, Curtis Jones, board a Chicago train bound for Money, Mississippi.

August 21: Emmett and Curtis arrive in Money, Mississippi. They stay on the outskirts of Money at the home of Mose Wright, the great-uncle of Emmett.

August 24: Emmett and Curtis borrow a car and drive into Money. They stop at Bryant's Grocery store, owned by Roy and Carolyn Bryant, to buy some candy. Prior to entering the store, Emmett pulls out some pictures of his white friends in Chicago, and shows them to some local boys outside of the store. The boys dare Emmett to talk to Carolyn Bryant, the store clerk. Emmett goes into the store, purchases some candy, and what happened as he was leaving is unclear. Till either says, "Bye, baby" or he whistles at Carolyn Bryant.

August 28:

Early Sunday morning, Roy Bryant, Carolyn's husband, and J.W. Milam, Roy's half-brother, knock on the door of Wright's home. With a pistol and flashlight in hand, they come into the house and kidnap Emmett. They beat Emmett with a .45 in Milam's barn. They then put him back in the truck and take him to the Tallahatchie River where they have him undress and then shoot him. They then tie a gin fan around his neck with wire in order to weigh the body down.

Curtis calls the sheriff to report the kidnapping. He also calls his mother Willie Mae Jones.

Willie Mae Jones tells Mamie Till that Emmett has been kidnapped. Mamie Till notifies Chicago newspapers of her son's disappearance.

August 29: Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam are arrested for kidnapping.

August 31: Till's body is discovered in the Tallahatchie River. His face is so mutilated that when Wright identifies the body, he can only do so based on the ring that Till was wearing.

September 3: Funeral services are held for Emmett. Mamie Till makes the decision to have an open casket funeral. Mamie wants the world to know what had happened to her son. His right eye is missing, his nose is broken, and there is a hole on the side of his head. Fifty-thousand people attend the funeral.

September 6:

Emmett is buried.

Bryant and Milam are indicted for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett.

September 15: Jet magazine runs photos of Till's body. Soon Till's murder becomes an international story.

September 19: The trial begins in Sumner, Mississippi. The jury is composed of all white men who are from the defendants' home county.

September 21: Mose Wright testifies in court that Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam kidnapped Emmett from his home.

September 23: The jury finds Milam and Bryant not guilty. The jury deliberates for 67 minutes, which according to one juror, was only because they stopped to drink soda. The jury concludes that the prosecution had failed to prove that the body recovered from the river was Emmett Till.

1956

January 24: Look magazine publishes the confession of Milam and Bryant, who agree to tell their story for $4000.

1980

Milam dies of cancer.

1990

Bryant dies of cancer.

2003

January 6: Mamie Till dies of heart failure.