The short term significance of Mamie Till Mobley.

1. Mamie Till Mobley.
Short term significance.

2. Biography.
• Mamie was born in 1921 in Webb,
Mississippi.
• In 1924, her family moved to Argo,
Illinois, where Mamie would initially
bring up Emmett.
• She was the first black female to
make the A Honor Roll.
• She had Emmett on July 25th, 1941.
• She has been married three times.
• She died of heart failure in 2003, the
same year her autobiography, The
Death Of Innocence, was published.

3. Death of Emmett Till.
On August 24th 1955, Emmett Till
entered a store in Sumner , Mississippi,
and supposedly whistled at a white
woman. The exact events are unclear.
On August 28th 1955, the woman’s
husband and his brother entered
Emmett’s uncle’s house (where he was
staying) at 2-3am and took Emmett.
They then brutally murdered him.
On September 23rd 1955, his murderers Emmett Till.
were acquitted of the crime.

4. Mamie’s Decision.
After Emmett’s death, Mamie
made the decision to have an
open casket at Emmett’s funeral.
This was particularly brave of her,
because the extreme injuries
Emmett had sustained. 50 000
gathered to see his body. She
said on this: “I wanted the world to
Emmett in his open casket.
see what they did to my baby”.
His face was severely
distorted by his torture and And they did. This act inspired
murder. many others.

5. Rosa Parks.
“I thought of Emmett Till and I couldn‟t go back”/”I am so
thankful for the bravery and courage Mamie demonstrated
when she shared her only child with the world. The news of
Emmett‟s death caused many people to participate in the cry
for justice and equal rights, including myself” – Rosa Parks.
Everybody knows who Rosa Parks is, but it’s often
overlooked who inspired her.

6. Other people inspired by Mamie.
• Cassius Clay/Mohammed Ali – “[Mamie] had done a
bold thing. She refused to let [Emmett] be buried
until hundreds of thousands marched past his open
casket in Chicago and looked down at his mutilated
body. [I] felt a deep kinship to him when I learned he
was born the same year and day I was. My father
talked about it at night and dramatized the crime.
I couldn’t get Emmett out of my mind.”
• Bob Dylan – wrote the song “The Death Of Emmett
Till”: „Emmett‟s body floated in the Jim Crow
Southern sea‟.

7. Mamie’s Actions.
• Toured with the NAACP across the country relating
her son’s murder and trial. This was the most
successful fundraising tour in the NAACP’s history.
• Set up the Emmett Till Foundation, along with her
mother, Alma Carthan. This foundation is committed
to “teaching boys and girls to become responsible
American citizens and serious scholars as well as
becoming well-versed in Christian living”