In 1955, the abduction and murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till, along with the courageous response of his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, to hold an open casket funeral for her son, catalyzed the American Civil Rights Movement. From Sumner, Mississippi, to Chicago, Illinois, sites connected to their story deserve to be memorialized in perpetuity. The National Trust for Historic Preservation believes these places can serve as a pathway for education, racial healing, and progress through national monument designation.

Since 2017, the National Trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund has invested nearly $500,000 in grant funding for the critical stabilization of Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ, along with the expansion of programming and paid staff at the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, Mississippi and the Emmett Till and Mamie Till Mobley House in Chicago.

Add your name to those calling for the establishment of a national monument honoring Emmett Till and Mamie Till Mobley.