Media Advisory: Emmett Till Commemorative Marker Display
WHAT: Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will host a press
preview for a display of the Emmett Till River Site Commemorative marker.
WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 2
10 a.m. to noon
Attendance by appointment only due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Masks are required and COVID-19 protocols will be in place.
WHERE: National Museum of American History
Access: Constitution Avenue entrance, between 12th and 14th streets N.W.
Note: The museum is closed to the public that day.
WHO: Anthea M. Hartig, Elizabeth MacMillan Director, National Museum of American History
Tsione Wolde-Michael, curator, Division of Political History
Nancy Bercaw, curator, Division of Political History
Rev. Wheeler Parker, cousin and witness
Dave Tell, Ph.D., Till scholar and co-director of the Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities
at the University of Kansas
Patrick Weems, co-founder, Emmett Till Interpretive Center
Jessie Jaynes Diming, member, Emmett Till Memorial Commission
The National Museum of American History will open “Reckoning with Remembrance: History, Injustice and the Murder of Emmett Till,” a monthlong display of the bullet-ridden sign that was placed by the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi in remembrance of Emmett Till. Beginning Sept. 3, the exhibit will be on view at the center of the museum’s Flag Hall. The Till sign with its 317 bullet holes preserves the memory of an African American boy’s murder while illustrating the ongoing nature of anti-Black violence in America. Contact Valeska Hilbig by email to schedule time during the preview and an interview. Following the preview, media is invited to attend “The Long Battle: The Work of Preserving Emmett Till’s Memory,” a panel discussion with the Rev. Wheeler Parker, Till’s cousin, Tallahatchie community leaders and Till scholar Dave Tell that will explore the efforts to preserve Till’s memory.
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