11/26/2025
Hey there, HOM South. It’s been far too long but I wanted to share this news and, if you’re interested in a good (but tough) read that goes farther into the history of the larger site, take a look at The Barn by Wright Thompson. Hope you are all doing well! —mfk
With a $1.5 million donation from Shonda Rhimes, the Mississippi barn where 14-year-old Emmett Till was abducted, tortured, and killed in 1955 will be turned into a public memorial, the Emmett Till Interpretive Centre announced.
The site, located outside Drew, Mississippi, was purchased to create a sacred space honouring Till’s life and legacy. Till, a Black Chicago teen, was falsely accused of making "lewd advances" towards a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in a rural grocery store. He was then taken from his great-uncle’s home by two white men, brutally murdered in the barn, and found weighted down in the Tallahatchie River.
According to historian Timothy Tyson, Bryant later confessed in 2007 that her story was a lie.
Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral, exposing the horrors of his murder and galvanizing the Civil Rights movement.
The Center plans to open the barn to the public by 2030, ahead of the 75th anniversary of his death, with 24-hour surveillance, floodlights, and security cameras.
The memorial aims to educate visitors, honour Till, and prompt reflection on justice and human rights.
(📷: Getty/Valerie Terranova)
