Emmett Till Interpretive Center


In 1955, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago, was lynched in Mississippi after being accused of flirting with a white woman. An all-white jury acquitted two white men, Roy Bryant and JW Milam, who later confessed. Although lynchings had occurred in the South before, this particular murder galvanized anger like few others and led to the first major wave of the mid-20th-century Civil Rights movement. This small museum, in the courthouse where the trial occurred, offers self-guided tours.

The self-guided tour includes a few displays about the trial and the public response, and the courtroom looks like it did at the time of the trial. A staffer is available to answer questions. If you're part of a larger group, call ahead to schedule a more in-depth tour and possibly a group dialogue about Till's murder. The interpretive center can also recommend third-party tour guides if you're interested in a a highly detailed look at the history.

It is remarkable how raw the wound of the Till murder can still feel in this area; in 2018, a sign that marked the spot where Till's body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River was riddled with bullets.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Tutwiler Tracks

4.69 MILES

Tutwiler is where the blues began its migration from oral tradition to popular art form. Here, WC Handy, known as the 'Father of the Blues', first heard a…

2. Sonny Boy Williamson II's Grave

5.92 MILES

Acclaimed harmonica player and host of the King Biscuit Time radio hour, Williamson – aka Aleck Miller – is buried amid a broken-down jumble of…

3. Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center

10.75 MILES

Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black youth from Chicago, was abducted from his uncle's house by two white men for allegedly flirting with one of the men's…

4. Crossroads

19.05 MILES

The Crossroads of Hwys 61 and 49 is supposedly the intersection where the great Robert Johnson made his mythical deal with the devil, immortalized in his…

5. Riverside Hotel

19.35 MILES

A historic marker fronts the historic Riverside Hotel, a well-loved place soaked in blues history. Blues singer Bessie Smith died here in 1937 when it was…

6. Delta Blues Museum

19.67 MILES

A small but well-presented collection of memorabilia is on display here. The shrine to Delta legend Muddy Waters includes the actual cabin where he grew…

7. Dockery Farms

21.86 MILES

Some of the earliest and most influential blues musicians, including Charlie Patton, worked and gathered here, developing and sharing their unique playing…

8. Bryant's Grocery

23.82 MILES

There's not much left to see other than a dilapidated building covered with vines, a historic marker and the railroad tracks, but the scene remains…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "usa/mississippi/mississippi-delta/attractions/emmett-till-interpretive-center/a/poi-sig/1403173/1324431",
      "position": "superzone"
    }