On August 25, 1955 a horrific event occurred in American History. The kidnapping and brutal murder of Emmett Till took place. Emmett’s cousin, Simeon Wright, visited Davis High and talked to all of the juniors last week.

Emmitt Till was staying with his cousins in Mississippi when they stopped at a drug store. Emmitt wolf-whistled at the attendant who was serving at the counter. His frightened cousins pulled him out of the store and hurried him back to their home.

A few days later the husband and brother-in-law of the attendant went into the home where Emmitt was staying and kidnapped him. After they kidnapped him they brutally beat him. They decided they would let him go, but Emmitt, being the defiant young man he was, refused to take blame for anything that he did.

The men, enraged now, beat Emmitt more and shot him in the head. After all of this they tied a 75 pound farm fan around his neck with barbed wire and threw his body in a river. Emmitt’s lifeless and disfigured body was found a few days later by a fisherman.

This horrific story has made a huge impact on many people around the world. It is a black mark in American History and was a key event in the Civil Rights Movement.