The U.S. Department of the Interior issued a news release July 25 to recognize President Joe Biden's proclamation of a new national monument to honor Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. The monument is 425th site to be placed under the management of the National Park Service.
"Over the past two years, it has been my honor to visit the sites that help tell the story of Emmett and Mamie’s lives with the family and community members who loved them," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland wrote in a release by the Department of Interior. "President Biden’s establishment of this national monument is a testament to the strength and bravery of Mamie Till-Mobley to honor her son and ensure that his death was not in vain. We are honored to be entrusted with the responsibility of preserving their stories as part of our enduring effort to pursue a more perfect union."
In his proclamation, Biden acknowledged the importance of the three sites and the items located there: the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ, where Emmett’s funeral was held; the Tallahtchie County Second District Courthouse, where the trial for Emmett’s murder was held, and Graball Landing, where his body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River.
"WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to preserve and protect the objects of historic interest associated with the story of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley and the birth of the American Civil Rights Movement in Illinois and Mississippi," Biden wrote, reserving the sites as part of the new monument and placing it under the jurisdiction of the Parks Service, "for the purpose of protecting those objects. The reserved Federal lands and interests in lands within the monument’s boundaries encompass approximately 5.7 acres, which is the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected," the president wrote.
Emmett Till was just 14 when he traveled from his home in Chicago to Money, MS, to visit friends and relatives. However, early in his visit, he went to Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market, where he bought candy from Carolyn Bryant, the white woman behind the counter, and eyewitnesses said he whistled at her, which set in motion the events that led to his death, according to the National Park Service’s history and culture section on the monument. On Aug. 28, 1955, he was abducted from his cousin’s home, beaten and shot, then dumped in the Tallahatchie River. It wasn’t until Aug. 31 that his body was found at Graball Landing, with a cotton gin fan and barbed wire around his neck.
The process of designating the new national monument dates back to February 2022, when Haaland, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory, and Congressman Bennie Thompson visited with community members. From there, multiple people and partners played a role in defining, designing and creating the monument sties, the release added.
