INDIANAPOLIS — The Children's Museum of Indianapolis will host a traveling exhibit honoring Emmitt Till this fall.
A vandalized roadside sign that marked a child’s murder will travel across the country. Museum leaders feel the exhibit is important to share in hopes of fostering racial harmony and reconciliation.
Emmett Till, a Black 14-year-old from Chicago, was visiting family in Money, Mississippi, when he was kidnapped from his great-uncle's home, then savagely beaten and murdered by a group of white men on Aug. 28, 1955.
His body was found three days later in a river, weighted down with a cotton gin fan. He was murdered because he had whistled at a white woman in a grocery store. The two white men who stood trial for the killing were acquitted by an all-white jury in 67 minutes.
Till's mother insisted his casket remain open at his funeral so people could see what was done to her son. More than 100,000 people viewed his body. Images of his mutilated body brought awareness internationally and was one catalyst to the Civil Rights Movement.
A series of commemorative signs were placed throughout Tallahatchie County, Mississippi in honor of Till. The signs have been repeatedly vandalized and that is what is being used for the exhibit.
"I applaud the Children's Museum and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center for their outstanding achievements and their commitment to preserving the legacy of my cousin, Emmett Till," said Reverend Wheeler Parker, the last living witness to Till's kidnapping. "My heart is overjoyed with the launch of each new initiative. Congratulations on the awesome traveling museum project. Your dedication and pursuit of social justice and racial reconciliation resonate with my commitment to the truth, forgiveness and reconciliation."
"We are honored to work with this incredible team including Emmett's family to elevate this important story and bring attention to widespread racism that continues today," said Jennifer Pace Robinson, president and CEO of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. "Using important stories of real people from the past, we want to provide a safe space for families to have critical conversations so they can better understand the key conditions that create change today and give them a starting point in determining positive ways in which they can personally make a difference through collaborative learning and discussing problem solving together."
The "Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See" exhibit will open at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis on Sept. 17, 2022. Because of the difficult subject matter, the museum said the exhibit is recommended for children 10 and older, and those between 10 and 18 years of age should be accompanied by an adult.
