Maime Till-Mobley was the mother of Emmitt Till. In 1955 she held an open casket visitation during her son’s funeral. Emmitt was a 14-year old from Chicago, when he was lynched, disfigured, and brutally murdered in Mississippi while visiting relatives. His murderers, who were white, were quickly acquitted. These events drew public outrage and put racism and acts of violence against black people on the world stage when gruesome photos of Emmitt’s body were published in Jet Magazine. Maime became a public figure in the civil rights movement and dedicated her life to justice.

“Let the people see what they did to my boy.”

Maime came to Chicago with her parents as a young child during the Great Migration of African-Americans from the segregated southern states. She was an excellent student, she made the “honor roll” at her high school which was predominantly white. She went on to teach in the Chicago Public schools for 23 years.

She died shortly before the publication of her autobiography, Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime that Changed America. Maime and Emmitt are both buried in Burr Oaks Cemetery, southwest of Chicago. Their house at 6427 S. Lawrence Street was dedicated as a landmark in 2020, and is now the Emmitt Till and Maime Till-Mobley House Museum. They were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2022.

Alum
Loyola University (there is a Maime Till Scholarship named in her honor at Loyola)
Chicago Teachers College (Chicago State University)
Argo Community High School

Honorary Maime Till-Mobley WAY

South Wabash Avenue between East 83rd Street and East 85th Street

Approved: December 2023

Ward: 06
Alderman: William Hall
Neighborhood: Avalon Park

b. November 23, 1921 in Mississippi
d. January 6, 2003

Maime Till-Mobley Day in Chicago 2021

Maime Till-Mobley Park in Chicago. 6404 S. Ellis Street

Source

20235643

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamie_Till

https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Publications/Emmett_Till_and_Mamie_Till-Mobley_House_report.pdf

https://www.luc.edu/features/stories/academics/thestoryofemmetttill/#:~:text=When%20Mamie%20Till%20Bradley%20saw,%2C'%20she%20famously%20said.%E2%80%9D

https://www.luc.edu/education/about/alumni/mtm/

https://www.blacksingreen.org/till-house-museum

https://abcnews.go.com/US/emmett-till-mamie-till-mobley-awarded-congressional-gold/story?id=95711344

https://youtu.be/H0gQygAwhkw?si=it-3BcZEb2WaWctY

“Till” Movie Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7INlp2fkZto

https://youtu.be/PuPlRvfEjj4?si=G4Q_DkavpJEJOd8v

https://youtu.be/sGWnPaa9qFY?si=TlLkmNaOTXSyESZN