A plaque marks the gravesite of Emmett Till at Burr Oak Cemetery May 4, 2005 in Aslip, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) On Aug.
28, 1955, Emmett Till, a Black teen from Chicago, was abducted from his uncle’s home in Money, Mississippi, by two White men after he had supposedly whistled at a White woman.
He was found brutally slain three days later.The 14-year-old’s killing galvanized the civil rights movement after Till’s mother insisted on an open casket, and Jet magazine published photos of his brutalized body.If he were alive, Till would have turned 80 last summer, on July 25, 2021.Young Emmett Till wears a hat. (via Getty Images) Stories about the events that led to Till’s killing have varied through the years, but the woman known at the time as Carolyn Bryant was always at the center of it, having made the accusation Till made improper advances.
Now known as Carolyn Bryant Donham, Donham is still alive and is in her late 80s. It is unclear where she currently lives or if she has an attorney.