MDAH Announces Acquisition of Gun Used in the 1955 Murder of Emmett Till
The gun and its holster belonged to J.W. Milam, one of two White men who confessed to killing the Black youth 70 years ago – a crime that sparked the Civil Rights Movement
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has announced that the gun used in the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till and the weapon’s holster have been acquired and are now on display at the Two Mississippi Museums – Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.
The Foundation for Mississippi History acquired the artifacts for donation to MDAH, the state agency with a mission to preserve Mississippi stories, historic places and artifacts. Both artifacts were owned by J.W. Milam, who along with his half-brother Roy Bryant, confessed to Till’s murder in a “Look” magazine article published in January 1956, some four months after an all-white jury in Tallahatchie County acquitted the men in the case.
The artifacts were acquired from a Mississippi family that is not connected to the case.
“The gun is the central artifact in one of the most important stories in Mississippi history and American history,” Two Mississippi Museums Director Michael Morris said Thursday, Aug. 28, during a news conference at the museums. “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.”
Morris said MDAH informed Till’s family about the artifact acquisition. Wheeler Parker, a cousin who was in the home when Till was abducted by his murderers, thanked MDAH for acquiring and displaying the artifacts.
“I think it’s good because it brings closure. I hope you guys can find the ring and cotton gin. Thank you for doing this,” Parker said.
Joining Morris at the news conference were Katie Blount, director of MDAH; Jonathan Lee, board chairman of the Foundation for Mississippi History; Spence Flatgard, chairman of the
MDAH Board of Trustees; and members of both boards.
The artifacts will be on permanent display in a theater where a narrative film describes what happened to Till, a teenager from Chicago who had come to the South to visit relatives seven decades ago.
After purchasing bubble gum at the grocery store in Money, Mississippi, Carolyn Bryant, the wife of Roy Bryant, accused Till of whistling at her. Till was taken from his uncle’s home in the middle of the night on Aug. 28, 1955, and was not seen again until his body was found floating in the Tallahatchie River, tied to a gin fan, and disfigured from torture and lynching.
The FBI reopened the case in 2004 as part of the federal agency’s Cold Case Initiative, but after thorough review determined it lacked jurisdiction to bring charges. The serial number on the gun in the Two Mississippi Museums exhibit matches that of the gun investigated by the FBI.
“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 said.
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