Mamie Elizabeth Till-Mobley was an educator and activist. She is best known as being the mother of Emmett Till, a 14 year old who was murdered by racist white men in Mississippi on August 28, 1955, after a white woman falsely accused him of whistling at her in a flirtatious manner. After the murder of her son, Mamie Till-Mobley became an activist who used her son’s murder as an example of racist inequality in America. Her bravery included having an open casket funeral for Emmett to show the world his badly butchered and brutalized body, which was done by the white murderers. There were hundreds who walked passed the open casket to view the body, many of them overtaken with grief, anger, sadness and the spirit of activism. Mamie became a public speaker which was very effective in mobilizing supporters of the Civil Rights Movement. She was hired by the NAACP to go on a speaking tour around the country. As a teacher, a large part of her activism focused on educating children living in poverty.
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Church Affiliation:Evangelistic Crusaders Church of God in Christ
Role in the Movement: Mamie Elizabeth Till-Mobley was an educator and activist.
Birth Place:Webb (Tallahatchie County), MS
Born Date:November 23, 1921
Deceased Date:January 6, 2003
Place Lived as Adult:Chicago, IL
Church Location:Chicago, IL