Gathering for a photo in Washington, D.C., on July 25 are, from left, Ruth Prescott, of the National Park Foundation; Patrick Weems, executive director of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner; Belinda Stewart, of Eupora-based Belinda Stewart Architects, whose firm was responsible for historic renovations to the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner; Lisa Kolakowsky, community planner for the U.S. Department of the Interior; Kitty Dumas, manager of Ryder Charitable Foundation and a supporter of the Emmett Till Memorial Commission in Tallahatchie County; Jacque Lavelle, of the National Park Service; Jenny Katz, senior manager of the Lands Program at the National Park Foundation; Alan Beasley, attorney for the National Park Foundation; and Tommy Reynolds, state representative and attorney in Tallahatchie County.
The occasion was President Joe Biden’s White House signing of a proclamation designating the Sumner courthouse and Graball Landing, both in Tallahatchie County, and Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, sites comprising the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument.
Recorded video of the signing was posted by the Associated Press.
Read: National monument will honor Emmett Till and his mother in Mississippi and Chicago
Read: Till national monument will incorporate two Tallahatchie County sites
