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 — in 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, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.
The site of Emmett Till's kidnapping, Money, Miss., 1955.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesJ.W. Milam’s brother Leslie owned this barn near Drew, Miss. Before his murder, Emmett Till was pistol-whipped in the barn.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesThe store in Money, Miss., where Emmett Till allegedly flirted with Roy Bryant’s wife Carolyn.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesA 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—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesA 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—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesEmmett Till's mother Mamie Bradley speaks to the press after her son's kidnapping and murder.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesFrom left: Emmett Till's great-uncle, the Rev. Mose Wright; his mother Mamie Bradley; and his cousin Simeon Wright.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesA crowd 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—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesDefendant J.W. Milam arrives at his trial in Sumner, Miss., where he is charged with the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesA scene in Sumner, Miss., during the trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesA scene during the trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesA scene during the trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesDefendants Roy Bryant, left, and J.W. Milam during their trial for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesDefendant Roy Bryant sits with his wife Carolyn and their children during his trial for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesDefendants J.W. Milam (left) and Roy Bryant (right)sit during their trial for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesDefendant J.W. Milam kisses his wife Juanita during his trial for the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesA 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—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
