Written By: Ben Cosgrove
In the summer of 1955, two men, both of them white, abducted a 14-year-old African-American boy named Emmett Till from his great-uncle’s house in Money, Miss. Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam beat Till almost to death, gouged out one of his eyes, shot him in the head and then dumped his body, weighted by an enormous cotton-gin fan tied with barbed wire, into the Tallahatchie River.
Their motive: Till, visiting from his native Chicago, had reportedly flirted with or, according to some accounts, spoken “disrespectfully” to Bryant’s wife a few days before.
When an all-white, all-male jury acquitted Bryant and Milam of kidnapping and murder in September, the verdict shocked observers across the country and around the world. And when, mere months later, the men openly admitted to Look magazine that they had, in fact, mutilated and murdered Till, the outcry was so intense and the reaction of Till’s devastated family so dignified that it lit a spark that helped ignite the modern civil rights movement.
Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.
The site of Emmett Till’s kidnapping, Money, Miss., 1955.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
J.W. Milam’s brother Leslie owned this barn near Drew, Miss. Before his murder, Emmett Till was pistol-whipped in the barn.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
The store in Money, Miss., where Emmett Till allegedly flirted with Roy Bryant’s wife Carolyn.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A ring found on Emmett Till’s body, which his great-uncle, the Rev. Mose Wright, used to identify his body. The ring belonged to Till’s father.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A scene in Mississippi around the time of the trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till, 1955.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Emmett Till’s mother Mamie Bradley spoke to the press after her son’s kidnapping and murder.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
From left: Emmett Till’s great-uncle, the Rev. Mose Wright; his mother Mamie Bradley; and his cousin Simeon Wright.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A crowd gathered outside the Sumner, Miss., courthouse during the trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for the kidnapping and murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Defendant J.W. Milam arrived at his trial for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A scene outside the courthouse during the trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
The trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
The trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Defendants Roy Bryant, left, and J.W. Milam, right, during their trial for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Defendant Roy Bryant sat with his wife Carolyn and their children during his trial for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Defendants J.W. Milam, left, and Roy Bryant, right, during their trial for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Defendant J.W. Milam kisses his wife Juanita during his trial for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A sign in Sumner, Miss., site of the trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for the August 1955 kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.
Ed Clark; Life Pictures/Shutterstock
