Remembering Emmett Till

1. Set Focus
Pose this essential question: What impact did Emmett Till’s murder have on the nation?

2. List Vocabulary
Share some of the challenging vocabulary words in the article. Encourage students to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• galvanize (p. 18)
• acquitted (p. 19)
• watershed (p. 19)
• backlash (p. 19)
• deliberation (p. 20)
• interpretive (p. 21)

3. Engage
Ask: Have you heard of Emmett Till? What do you know about him? If students have no knowledge of Emmett, have them preview the photographs in the article and predict what they think the article will be about.  

4. Read and Discuss
Ask students to read the Upfront article about the murder of Emmett Till. Review why the article is a secondary source. (It was written by someone who didn’t personally experience or witness the events.) Then pose these critical-thinking questions and ask students to cite text evidence when answering them:

• What was Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam’s motive for killing Emmett Till? What historical events and cultural attitudes contributed to the “larger story” of why he was murdered? (Bryant and Milam murdered Emmett Till for whistling at Carolyn Bryant, Roy Bryant’s wife, which was a violation of the social order established by Jim Crow. According to the article, the passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments—which gave more civil liberties to Black Americans—angered many White people, who in turn responded with lynchings.)

• What notable choice did Emmett’s mother make at his funeral and what impact did it have on the public? (Emmett’s mother chose to have an open coffin at the funeral because she wanted everyone to see what was done to her son. Her choice contributed to tens of thousands of mourners coming to see him. Photographs of his body were published in Jet magazine. As a result of these photos and the national news stories about the crime, his murder became a global symbol of American injustice.)

• What impact did Emmett’s murder have on the civil rights movement? (Emmett’s murder energized the civil rights movement, including Rosa Parks, who was thinking of Emmett when she refused to give up her seat. His murder also inspired young people to form the influential protest group the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), because they were the same age as Emmett when he was murdered.)

• What was the punishment for the men who murdered Emmett? What did they do after their trial that showed their guilt? (Despite eye-witness testimony identifying the men as those who committed the murder, Bryant and Milam were acquitted of the crime and not punished. They went on to admit to the crime in Look magazine.)

5. Use the Primary Sources
Project, distribute, or assign in Google Classroom the PDF The Trial and the Verdict, which features excerpts from a September 24, 1955 article published in The New York Times covering the verdict of the Emmett Till case. Discuss what makes the article a primary source. (It provides firsthand evidence concerning the topic.) Have students read the excerpts and answer the questions below (which appear on the PDF without answers).

• How would you describe the tone and purpose of the excerpts from the article? (The tone can be described as formal yet somber. The purpose is to describe the events that happened when the verdict was read, as well as to summarize how the jury came to its decision.)

• What reason did the jury give for acquitting the defendants? What additional factor does the article suggest may have influenced the jury’s decision? (According to the article, the jury acquitted the defendants because they “felt the body was too badly decomposed to be identified.” However, the article also noted that “because of the race relations factors involved in this case” it was unlikely that the jurors would convict the men.)  

• What does jury spokesman Mr. Shaw say about Mamie Till’s testimony? What can you infer from his comment? (Mr. Shaw, referring to Mamie Till’s testimony, said, “If she had tried a little harder, she might have got out a tear.” The article notes that, while Mamie was on the stand, she took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. Shaw’s comment implies that he thinks Mamie’s grief was inauthentic, or that he had no sympathy for her. The reader can infer that the jury discounted her testimony.) 

• Summarize the arguments made by defense attorneys Whitten and Kellum. What do their arguments highlight about race relations in Mississippi in 1955? (Whitten argued that “rabble rousers” planted a corpse that was not Emmett to try to inflame racial tensions and that the “Anglo-Saxon” jury should acquit the defendants as a defense of their racial identity. Kellum, moreover, said that a conviction would anger the jurors’ “forefathers.” These race-based arguments highlight the all-encompassing role racial identity played in the Jim Crow South. To some, it mattered more than justice.)

• How does this article support and expand upon what you learned about the case from the Upfront article? (Students’ answers may vary, but should be supported with details from the texts.)

6. Writing Prompt
Why do you think Emmett Till’s memorial sign has had to be replaced so many times? Write a brief essay, supporting your ideas with evidence.

7. Quiz
Use the quiz to assess comprehension.

8. Diver Deeper
Have students explore and discuss the Emmett Till Memory Project mentioned in the article online at etmp.site.

9. Literature Link
Pair the article with Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Draw attention to the attempted lynching of Tom Robinson (chapter 15), and discuss what the novel adds to students’ understanding of the Jim Crow era.