Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till is abducted and lynched in Money, Mississippi, after being accused of offending a white woman.
At a Glance
- Date
- 28 August 1955
- Location
- Money, Mississippi
- Key people
- Emmett Till, Mamie Till-Mobley
- Category
- Civil Unrest & Racial Violence
- Source
- Trial records (1955); Emmett Till Antilynching Act (2022) · Smithsonian NMAAHC
What It Meant Then
His mother's decision to hold an open-casket funeral exposed the brutality of Jim Crow to the world.
What It Means Now
Till's murder is widely seen as a spark of the modern civil rights movement.
Also on 28 August
Cite this page
- MLA
- “Emmett Till Is Murdered.” Black-History.com, 30 Sept. 2026, https://black-history.com/on-this-day/emmett-till-is-murdered/.
- APA
- Black-History.com Editors. (2026, September 30). Emmett Till Is Murdered. Black-History.com. https://black-history.com/on-this-day/emmett-till-is-murdered/
- Chicago
- Black-History.com Editors. “Emmett Till Is Murdered.” Black-History.com. September 30, 2026. https://black-history.com/on-this-day/emmett-till-is-murdered/.
Editorial Note
By the Black-History.com editors. Last reviewed 30 September 2026. To suggest a primary source or a correction, write to editors@black-history.com or use our corrections form.