The public is invited to Thursday’s 5 p.m. rededication of a historical marker at the River Road site near Glendora where Emmett Till’s body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River in the summer of 1955.
A replica double-sided marker has been erected there to replace one that was so badly riddled with bullets by vandals that it had to be eventually retired.
This will be the third sign placed at the site by the local Emmett Till Memorial Commission in about 10 years. The first was vandalized, then stolen and never recovered.
Thursday’s ceremony is being cosponsored by the Emmett Till Interpretive Center of Sumner and The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University.
Patrick Weems, director of ETIC, said representatives from the Delta Center will attend the event with about three-dozen educators from around the country who are participating in the ongoing “The Most Southern Place on Earth: Music, Culture, and History in the Mississippi Delta,” a DSU summer institute for school teachers sponsored by The National Endowment for the Humanities.
Wheeler Parker, a cousin of Till’s from Illinois, will be present Thursday to offer remarks. Parker is an eyewitness to some of the events that took place in 1955, including the incident in the Money store, where the 14-year-old black Till wolf-whistled at a white female store clerk, as well as Till’s later kidnapping from their uncle’s house nearby for violating that social taboo.
Timla Washington, aide to U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, will be on hand to discuss the importance of sites such as this one memorializing Till.
“A special thanks to the Tallahatchie County Board of Supervisors for their leadership and sponsorship,” said Weems, who noted that the board facilitated the physical placement of the new historical marker in time for Thursday’s ceremony.
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To learn more about the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, call 662-483-0048, email info@emmetttill.org or visit Emmett-Till.org.
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To learn more about The Delta Center for Culture and Learning, which is the management entity of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area and the home of the International Delta Blues Project, visit their website at http://deltacenterdsu.com.
IN THE PHOTO: This sign, shot full of holes by vandals, has been replaced with a new replica, which will be dedicated Thursday. (Photo by Patrick Weems)
