Illinois and Mississippi, 2005-2007
(click on thumbnail images to view enlarged photos)
All photos were taken by Devery S. Anderson. Any reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Argo, Illinois,
where Emmett Till's mother and grandparents settled in 1924. Emmett was
raised here until he was nine years old. Photo taken February 2007.
Photographs of Corn Products,
International, in Argo, Illinois. Most men in Argo worked here,
including Emmett Till's father, stepfather, and grandfather.
Photos taken
February
2007.
Argo Temple Church of God—founded in 1926 in the home of Alma Spearman,
Emmett Till's grandmother; later moved to this location. The original
church building was razed and this one was built on the same location in
1970. Emmett attended the Argo Temple with his family until his death.
Photo taken
February 2007.
This vacant lot on 64th Street in Argo, is where two homes
once stood—the home that Emmett Till was raised in, as well as the home
that Wheeler and Hallie Parker lived in. Wheeler Parker, Jr., is the
cousin of Emmett Till; the two were very close. Both homes burned some
time ago.
Photo taken
February 2007.
Emmett Till attended Argo School, located across the street from his Argo home. The name has since been changed to Wharton School.
Photo taken February 2007.
Emmett Till and his mother moved to the upstairs apartment of this house
at 6427 S. St. Lawrence Street in Chicago in 1951, and lived here until his death.
The house was owned by Alma Spearman, Emmett's grandmother. Photo taken February
2007.
S. St. Lawrence Street, where Emmett Till's family
lived, crosses with Emmett Till Road (renamed from 71st Street in 1991)
on Chicago's south side.
Photo taken February 2007.
Emmett Till attended this school in Chicago from 1951–55. At the time,
it was called James McCosh Elementary School, but in 2005, it was
changed to the Emmett Till Math and Science Academy.
Photo taken
February 2007.
When Emmett Till went to Mississippi on August 20, 1955, he stayed at
Moses Wright's home in East Money, Mississippi. This home sits where
the sharecropper home of Moses Wright once sat.
Photo taken October 2007.
Bryant Grocery and Meat Market,
Photos taken
February 2005.
Bryant Store, deteriorating further two years later.
Photos taken February 2007.
When J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant were arrested on kidnapping charges,
they were held in separate cells at the Leflore County Courthouse in
Greenwood, Mississippi. While there, the National Guard was called out
to patrol the area when rumors were reported that blacks from Chicago
were coming to town to take the defendants.
Photos taken February 2007.
This is the spot on the
Tallahatchie River, called Pecan Point,
where Emmett Till's body was found on August 31, 1955.
Photo taken
October 2007.
When Emmett Till's body was retrieved from the Tallahatchie River, it
was taken to the Century Burial Association in Greenwood, Mississippi.
Here, the body was photographed by the police department and examined by
a pathologist. Although the funeral home has been rebuilt, it is still
in business in Greenwood.
Photos taken
February 2007.
Moses Wright's church, the Church of God in Christ, East
Money, Mississippi. He was pastor of this church up until 1949 but
still attended it at the time of Emmett Till's visit. The church is
no longer in use.
Photo taken February 2007.
Side view of Moses Wright's Church, East Money, Mississippi.
Photo taken
February 2007.
Current sign at Moses Wright's church, East Money, Mississippi. The
sign is outdated and the church is no longer in use.
Photo taken
February 2007.
Cemetery, East Money Church of God in Christ, where Emmett Till was
nearly buried on August 31, 1955, the day his body was retrieved from
the Tallahatchie River.
Photo taken
February 2007.
Before Emmett Till’s body was
shipped to Chicago, it was embalmed in this building, located in
Tutwiler, Mississippi. At the time it was the Avent Funeral Home,
managed by Chick Nelson.
Photo taken
October 2007.
When Emmett Till's body was sent back to Chicago, it was taken to the A.
A. Rayner and Son's Mortuary. The funeral home is still in business, but
is located on 71st Street (named Emmett Till Road in 1991). The location
that Emmett Till was taken to was on Cottage Grove.
Photo taken
February 2007..
After preparations and a Friday night viewing at Rayner's and Sons,
Emmett Till's body was moved to Roberts Temple Church of God on State
Street in Chicago. The funeral was held here on Saturday, September 3,
1955, and the body remained on display until Tuesday, September 6. Thousands
passed by the casket. This is the original building, although it was
been remodeled.
Photo taken
February 2007.
Thousands of people filed past Emmett Till's casket while on display in
Chicago. This is the casket, as it appeared in 2007. Emmett Till was buried
for nearly fifty years before being exhumed for an autopsy in June 2005.
His remains were placed in a new casket and reburied. This original
casket has since been moved to the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington, D. C. where it will undergo restoration and then be placed
on display in the National Museum of
African American History and Culture. Till's body was covered with glass, and the
glass remains intact, although discolored and rusty.
Photos taken
February 2007.
On September 6, 1955, Emmett Till was buried at Burr Oak Cemetery in
Alsip, Illinois.
Photos taken
February 2007.
Tallahatchie Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, scene
of the Milam-Bryant Murder trial.
Photo taken February 2005
This
is the courtroom where the Milam-Bryant murder trial took place.
Although it has been remodeled, the railing in front of the spectator
section is the original, and was present at the time of the trial.
Photo taken October 2007.
This is the office of two of Milam and Bryant's
defense attorneys, J. J. Breland and Johnny Whitten. Although both
attorneys are now dead, their office looks exactly as it did 50 years
ago.
Photos taken
February 2005.
Harvey Henderson law office, Sumner, Mississippi. Henderson was one of the defense attorneys of J. W. Milam and Roy
Bryant and was the last surviving member of the defense team.
Photo taken February
2007.
Emmett Till Memorial Highway sign, Highway 49, Greenwood Mississippi.
Erected June 2005.
Photo taken February
2007.