Little more than a month after being erected, four bullet holes now scar an historical marker located near the site where the body of murdered teenager Emmett Till was pulled from the Tallahatchie River in 1955.
The new aluminum sign — which itself replaced a bullet-riddled marker so badly shot up that it was finally retired months ago — had just been unveiled and dedicated on June 21.
That formal public ceremony was attended by about 75 people, including Till’s 79-year-old cousin, Wheeler Parker of Illinois, who at the time told a reporter that repeated acts of vandalism at this and other civil rights sites “remind us of what kind of people we’re dealing with and how much work we’ve got to do.”
This had been the third sign put up in 10 years by the local Emmett Till Memorial Commission at Graball Landing on the graveled River Road, several miles off Sharkey Road.
The first sign, placed by the ETMC in the summer of 2008, was stolen about six months later and never recovered. Tire tracks leading from the signposts to the riverbank some 50 yards away led local law enforcement at the time to surmise that the marker might have been tossed into the Tallahatchie River, as Till had been.
An identical sign was manufactured and installed at the location soon thereafter but fell prey to repeated vandalism by gunfire — including some apparent shotgun blasts — and was retired after about eight years.
John Wilchie, co-chairman of the ETMC, said he discovered bullet holes in the newest marker on Friday, July 27, citing but not detailing physical evidence which suggested that the sign’s wounds were inflicted the night before.
Wilchie said the commission plans to leave the damaged sign in place for now and will hope that the desecration does not continue.
“We’ll see how it plays out,” he noted.
The sign, manufactured by Charleston Industries, cost about $1,200, he explained. Private donations were used to pay for the third rendering.
Wilchie said he believes that “eventually, one day, we’ll catch whoever it is” vandalizing the markers.
Patrick Weems, co-founder of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, where the second Graball Landing sign with its dozens of bullet holes is housed, said local law enforcement was notified of the latest vandalism.
To date, no one has been charged in connection with any previous act of sign vandalism at the remote rural location which is bordered primarily by wide-open expanses of agricultural land and trees along the river.
Weems added that the center “is committed to seeing the sign [at Graball Landing] replaced” and has “already begun plans” to that end.
He said contact has been made with Ralph Applebaum Associates of New York City, one of the world’s largest museum exhibition design firms, about designing a steel sign that would be more resilient — gunshot resistant — and with sign manufacturer Lite Brite Neon of Brooklyn, New York.
In the end, Weems said the vandalism only serves to fortify the resolve of those dedicated to preserving such important monuments to history so that they are never forgotten.
“Our mission is to continue to tell the truth as it concerns the Emmett Till story,” Weems noted. “We are saddened by these events but are unwavering in our commitment to truth and racial reconciliation.”
IN THE PHOTO: The latest Graball Landing historical marker, dedicated on June 21, sports fresh bullet holes. (Photo special to The Sun-Sentinel)
