Mississippi Museums Display Gun Used in Emmett Till 1955 Murder

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) has acquired the .45-caliber gun and holster used in the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till, now on permanent display at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. The gun, once owned by J.W. Milam—one of Till's confessed killers—had been kept in a safety deposit box for decades before its recovery, deepening public understanding of the tragic event that helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement. Till, a Black teenager from Chicago, was abducted, tortured, and killed after being accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi; his killers were acquitted by an all-white jury but later confessed in a magazine article. Family members like Wheeler Parker, who was present during Till's abduction, expressed that the acquisition brings a sense of closure while emphasizing the ongoing importance of remembering Till's legacy. The artifacts are displayed with an interpretive narrative that recounts the full story of Till's murder and its historical significance. This remembrance coincides with renewed debates about how the nation confronts its racial history, with some political figures criticizing institutions like the Smithsonian for their portrayals of such events.