Artifact at Civil Rights Museum in Mississippi narrates Emmett Till's legacy
In a significant development, the state of Mississippi has acquired a chilling artifact for its civil rights museum - the murder weapon used in the lynching of Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago, in 1955.
The pistol, which belonged to J.W. Milam, one of the men accused of Till's murder, was found in a safety deposit box and its serial number matches the FBI's investigation records. The gun had been stored away for decades before being discovered last year.
The discovery was made public in Wright Thompson's history of the case, "The Barn". Thompson, the author, expresses relief that the state now has the gun and believes it should be safely kept in a museum. He also believes that Mississippi's honesty about its past shows strength and is an important act of citizenship.
The agency responsible for preserving artifacts and sites associated with Emmett Till's murder had never located the gun before its discovery. Museum director Michael Morris states that the weapon adds to what is known about Till's murder.
Wheeler Parker Jr., Till's cousin and the last living eyewitness to the event, recalls that Milam and his half-brother showed up at his grandfather's house in the wee hours of the morning. The discovery of the gun provides a new chapter in the story of Emmett Till, giving Parker a sense of closure.
Till's body was later found floating in the Tallahatchee River, weighted down by a cotton gin fan. White men kidnapped, tortured, shot, and dumped Till's body in a river. Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were arrested and tried for the murder but were acquitted by an all-white jury; they were never convicted.
The outcry from Till's open-casket funeral, demanded by his mother Mamie Till-Mobley, helped fuel the civil rights movement. The artifact will be part of the Emmett Till exhibit at the state's civil rights museum in Jackson. The family holding the gun asked to remain anonymous.
The discovery of the gun is a reminder of the horrors of the past and the ongoing struggle for justice. It is a significant addition to the museum, providing a tangible connection to one of the most defining moments in American history.
