Chapter 6-8 Emmett Till
What did Mamie Bradley do upon learning that her son was kidnapped? Bullet a detailed list of all of her actions/reactions.
After Curtis Jones gave Mamie a call and gave her the news of what happened to Emmett, Mamie drove to her mother's apartment at breakneck speed to share both news and anguish Mamie was horrified her mind was racing. Mamie's mother alerted their church so that the congregation could pray for Emmett Mamie started to telephone the Chicago newspaper which then sent reporters to Alma's apartment. She also called Rayfield Mooty (a distant relative and savvy labor union official who knew all the African American political players in Chicago)
When did Carolyn find out that a warrant had been issued for her arrest? Where was she during the investigation? Why was she never arrested?
Carolyn found out 50 years later that a warrant had been issued for her arrest. She was in a farmhouse in Lambert with her two sons. Carolyn was never arrested because as Sheriff Smith told reports, "We aren't going to bother the woman," "She has got two small boys to take care of." (Pg. 62 Sheriff Smith) The Sheriff also claimed that a chivalrous impulse came over him that overrode his belief that she had participated in the kidnapping.
What was Roy Bryant's account of what happened to Emmett? List key details.
He told Carolyn that they only whipped him and then dropped him off on the side of the road. He also assured her that he was playing poker all night at J.W.'s store Three days after Emmett was kidnapped the police had called off the search for his body because they could not find it, so they questioned Roy Roy said he had heard that the boy made some "ugly remarks" to his wife. He said "he went down and got Emmett to let his wife see him and identify him, and turned him loose." He said he released Till right in front of the store. Told police the same thing he told Carolyn- he was playing cards for the rest of the night. Roy was arrested for kidnapping
Make a detailed list tracing the handling of Emmett's body after he was discovered. List all people involved, what each decided or was instructed to do, and how Emmett eventually got home.
Robert Hodges sees toes protruding the water while fishing then goes to his father and the father calls his brother and the police. The deputies call Sheriff H.C. Strider and the Sheriff calls his son to ask about a boat. The deputies pick up Clarence Strider Jr. who has a boat in the river. They use the two boats to go to the location of the body and pull it out of the water. Chester Miller asks Moses Wright to identify the body and he identifies it as Emmett Till's corpse. Miller's assistant removed the ring off of Emmett's finger and gave it to Wright and he laid it on the floor of the ambulance Miller grabs Emmett's body and gives it to Wright, even though the sheriff wanted to bury Emmett immediately. Emmett then was taken to Nelson, who made everyone swore to keep his casket closed, or else he would not prepare the body. Emmett's corpse was taken by train to Chicago and was met by his mother and other family members. Emmett's mother, Mamie Bradley, decides to hold an open casket funeral and it shook the world.
What did Elizabeth Wright do immediately after Emmett was kidnapped? What did she vow and where did she end up?
She ran to her closest neighbor's house at 3 am through fields in order to get help The wife wanted to help but her husband did not want to get involved They were afraid of repercussion for helping a colored person Elizabeth vowed to leave Mississippi and never come back She goes to Chicago
What involvement did Eula Lee have regarding the family's reaction to Emmett's kidnapping? What was decided at her store regarding Roy and Milam? What was decided regarding Carolyn?
The Bryant-Milam clan gathered at Eula's store after Roy was arrested to discuss the situation and what they should do because they thought Roy would crack and tell the truth under pressure. They decided J.W. Milam would turn himself in to keep Roy from changing the story they had agreed to tell. It was decided that Carolyn Bryant would be isolated from the unfolding aftermath of the lynching and would not even let her speak on the phone. When she found out about Emmett's body being found, she didn't believe it because Roy said he didn't kill him. But Raymond (Roy's twin brother) blamed Emmett's murder on Melvin Campbell. After she was informed about Melvin and was told not to tell anyone, she was brought to her sister-in-law's house in Lambert Mississippi where they were really isolated (keeping her from everyone including her own family because they were afraid she might say something they didn't want to be said or reveal something they didn't want to be revealed.
Pay attention to the titles of the chapters. Explain how each is significant.
The Incident: This title relates to the chapter because it centers around "the incident" and how it happened. It goes on to discuss Carolyn's, Emmett's, and his cousins' reactions to it as well. The author goes on to question why Carolyn recounted the incident as she did and why they differed from when she told her attorney to when she testified in court. It's one of the more straightforward titles of the book. On The Third Day: Three days after the kidnapping of Emmett Till (The Incident), his body was found by a young boy that was fishing in the river. As the police pulled Emmett's body out of the water with the boat, they found his body with barbed wire wrapped around his neck attached with a 150-pound iron fan. The face of the body was described to be "cut up, pretty badly like an axe was used." That the left side "had been beat up or cut up--plumb into the skull." (Pg. 63 Sheriff Strider) The fact that the police found Emmett to be dead contradicts the story that Roy told Carolyn, which was that he only whipped Emmett and left him on the side of road. It is a reference to the third day of God creating the earth and the day that Jesus was resurrected. Mama Made The Earth Tremble: This title is significant because when Mamie saw the pine box in which Emmett's body was held in, she said, "You didn't die for nothing", (68). When she saw his body, she decided to have an open casket funeral because she knew that if, "they walked by that casket, if people opened the pages of Jet magazine or the Chicago Defender, if other people could see it with their own eyes, then together we would find a way to express what we had seen," (72-73). News stations were there with her at the platform to capture the moment. By having an open casket funeral and making her grief public to newspapers, tv stations, etc she made it so that everyone could see her.
After the alleged "incident," bullet a detailed list of how Emmett and his cousins reacted, starting with their departure, what happened on the way home, the atmosphere in the car, and the eventual judgment that they all made regarding what had happened.
They were all in shock when they saw Carolyn grab the pistol because Emmett had just violated a Mississippi unwritten rule about social conducts between blacks and whites. They all ran to their ford and sped away On their way home they saw a car behind them, and they thought they were being followed, so they pulled over and scattered into a cotton field until the car sped past them. The atmosphere in the car was paranoid and anxious. When they all got home Emmett begged his cousins not to tell his aunt or uncle about the incident, but eventually, word spread.
