JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Officials with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) announced that the gun used in the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till had been acquired 70 years after he was tragically killed.
The .45-caliber pistol and its holster were unveiled during a news conference Thursday, which marks the anniversary of Till’s death.
The same day, leaders and family members gathered at the Mississippi State Capitol to recognize his impact and legacy on the United States.
“It’s 70 years that we stand here today, feeling the same sense of injustice, feeling the same sense of pain, feeling the same sense that his death will not be in vain as his mother wanted and feeling the same sense for the search for truth, justice and accountability,” said Deborah Watts, Till’s cousin and the co-founder Emmett Till Legacy Foundation.
Till, when he was 14 years old, came from Chicago to visit family in rural Mississippi in August 1955. During a visit to a grocery store, he was falsely accused of whistling at a white woman. Four days later, Till was abducted from a great-uncle’s home in the predawn hours by Roy Bryant and John William “J. W.” Milam. The white men tortured and killed Till in a barn in a neighboring county, and his body was later found in the Tallahatchie River.
Bryant and Milam were charged with murder in Till’s death but were acquitted by a jury made up of white men. Bryant and Milam later confessed to Till’s murder in a “Look” magazine article published in January 1956.
Historians said both the gun and holster obtained by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) were owned by J.W. Milam. MDAH officials said the artifacts were acquired from a Mississippi family that is not connected to the case.
It will be displayed in the Emmett Till exhibit at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, part of the Two Mississippi Museums (along with the Museum of Mississippi History) in Jackson.
“The gun is the central artifact in one of the most important stories in Mississippi history and American history,” said Two Mississippi Museums Director Michael Morris. “The artifacts are displayed in an exhibit about Till’s murder in an interpretation that tells the whole story – from the teen’s entry into Bryant’s Grocery & Meat Market to his murder.”
“The gun and holster, along with other artifacts in the case, will be used to educate generations about this era in our nation’s history,” Morris added.
Till’s cousin Watts, said she has mixed emotions about the weapon being on display.
“It is an emotional day for us, and I just don’t think that associating a murder weapon with the 70th anniversary is appropriate at this time,” Watts said.
To recognize the anniversary, there will be several events in Mississippi this weekend to honor Till’s life, including a “Till” movie screening at Tougaloo College on Aug. 29, a memorial parade on Aug. 30, and a Worship in White on Aug. 31.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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