A Wreath for Emmett Till

Description

In 1955, 14-year-old Till was visiting relatives in a small Mississippi town when he was accused of giving a white woman a “wolf whistle” outside a market. Her husband and his half-brother pulled Till from the house where he was staying, drove him to the banks of the Tallahatchie River and shot him in the head.

Despite eyewitness testimony, an all-white jury acquitted the two men of murder. Outrage over Till’s death helped to mobilize the civil rights movement.

Author – Marilyn Nelson. Illustrator – Phillipe Lardy