CHICAGO, Ill. — The home of slain Black teenager Emmett Till has been granted landmark status in Chicago.
The Chicago City Council approved an ordinance Wednesday that protects the house on the South Side from demolition.
At 14 years old, Till was lynched by a mob of white men while visiting family members in Mississippi in the summer of 1955. He was accused of whistling at a white woman.
When Till’s body was returned to Chicago, his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, held an open-casket funeral to show the world the horrifying violence her son had suffered.
Though two men were acquitted on murder charges, Till’s death became a flashpoint of the civil rights movement and the killing galvanized others to get involved.
Till’s mother continued to live in a three-bedroom apartment on the home’s second floor until 1962 while she worked to honor the legacy of her only child by devoting her life to eradicating racism and improving the quality of life for people of color, according the city council.
The Till home is located at 6427 S. St. Lawrence Ave. and the 2,400-square-foot was constructed in 1895.
