And that's when I realized that this was a load that I was going to have to carry. Carolyn told her sister-in-law, Juanita, who was in the back of the store with their children, what had happened. Specifically, Roy Bryant is a murderer, torturer, Kidnapper, and many more. Richard Gardner Milam still alive? So it was just like you know hush hush you know so I was told to keep my mouth shut and that's what I did. Most were men who had been accused of associating with white women. J.W. The couple ran a small grocery, Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market, that sold provisions to black sharecroppersand their children. Moses Wright, description of kidnapping:Sunday Morning about 2:30, I heard a voice at the door. He could not have that, you know physical show of affection, of sharing grief, or whatever. Two nights later, Donham's then-husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy visiting family in Mississippi from Chicago, was brutally murdered in August 1955. Mamie Till:He thought I was exaggerating, which I was. Mamie Till:Those words were like arrows sticking all over my body. I mean it's -- I mean someone come and stand over you with a pistol in one hand and a flashlight and you're 16 years old it's a terrifying experience, very terrifying. Clenora Hudson-Weems ", Narrator:J.W. You just didn't do that. First-Year interview Interviews are offered Monday through Friday and are considered an official admission interview. Milam and his brother Roy Bryant, both white, were charged with the crime. Biography and latest updates. He, along with his half-brother J.W. I mean the whole gym went crazy. Months later, Bryant and Milam confessed to Look magazine they had killed Till, and the journalist who wrote the article helped conceal the names of the other killers. I said, "Congressman, this is one verdict you don't want to be present to hear.". Milam as the men who abducted Till, but the all-white, all-male jury acquitted them. He was born two years after his older brother Roy and is believed to be the last son Carolyn ever bore. Milam and had been seen washing blood from Milam's truck, disappeared. So I told 'em what I saw. CBS News Archive Wheeler Parker:As far as I was concerned, that wasn't him there, yet at the same time, as confusing as it may sound, it was him. Narrator:Mamie Till testified that the body she'd examined and buried was indeed her son. Oudie Brown, Mississippi resident Moses Wright could identify the body only by an initialed ring, which had belonged to Emmett's father, Louis Till. Jerry Mitchell Roy Bryant died of cancer 13years later. Although his killers were arrested and charged with murder, they were both acquitted quickly by an all-white, all-male jury. The murder trial of Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. On the eveningof August 24, 1955, Emmett Till went with his cousins and some friends to Bryant's Grocery for refreshments after picking cotton in the hot sun. Roy died of cancer in September 1994. Years later, both men would return to Mississippi. Don't even look at her. Roy Bryant held American nationality and was Caucasian. Black Man: No sir. But, he said, "I had decided to tell it like it was.". Richard Heard:It was grotesque. Leon Finney Jr. . In his summation, the lead defense attorney warned members of the jury that their ancestors would turn over in their graves if Bryant and Milam were found guilty. AA Rayner & Sons Roy Bryant (far right) and half-brother, J.W. You just as well to get ready to go." The couple ran a small grocery, Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market, that sold provisions to black. Roy Bryant, a 24 year-old ex-soldier and his wife Carolyn owned the grocery and not much else. Narrator:As Emmett packed his bags, Mississippi was set to explode. And this said to them clearly, "Hey, it's right here. Evidence indicated a woman, Donham, who identified the young boy to the men who later killed him. He asked. John Herbers, journalist SOUND RECORDISTS And I guess to me it didn't happen. The two men who were acquitted of his murder were Roy Bryant and his half brother, J.W. This program was produced by WGBH Boston, He said, "Oh, I'm gonna show it off to the fellas." Library of Congress But after the acquittal, in the magazine article, Bryant and Milam described the killing. MS. State Sen. David Jordan In 1955, Mamie Till was unwillingly thrust into American history by her son's murder. Table of Biography [ show] Early life Roy Bryant was born on January 24, 1931, in Money, Mississippi, United States of America. And I wondered, was it necessary to shoot him? Milam laid bare the racism that ruled Mississippi. Strider greeted them as he passed with a cheery "Hello, niggers.". People have been wondering what happened to Roy Bryant, the co-accused in Emmett Tills murder. Richard Heard, Emmett Till's classmate Enduring Legacy: The Emmett Till murder shaped the . His family had worked cotton for generations, but this trip would be Emmett's introduction to the Delta, known as "the most southern place on earth.". Moyosore Pau Pau And then they began to question me about this here. Moses Newson, journalist, CONSULTANTS Narrator:Strider consigned black reporters and Detroit Congressman Charles Diggs to a card table on the sidelines. . He had served in World War II and received combat medals. Corbis Motion Whites looking at you. Milam admitted having taken Emmett Till, but claimed they'd let him go. That these kinds of things were not of their generation, that they no longer happened in America. Narrator:After the trial, sheriff Clarence Strider told reporters, "I hope the Chicago niggers and the NAACP are satisfied.". However, he married Vera Jo Orman later in life. You know how hard they are to burn? Now in her mid-80s, her current status and whereabouts are kept private by her family, though. Milam, and perhaps several other people, barged into the Leflore County home of a black sharecropper named Moses Wright. I won't ever forget, it was a Sunday afternoon. Donham has stayed out of the public eye in the nearly 15 years since her interview with Tyson. At a church on the South Side of Chicago, Emmett Till's mutilated body would be on display for all to see. If I could go high enough, I -- things could soak into his head that, "You have to be very careful.". In this 23 September 1955, file photo, JW Milam, left, and Roy Bryant, right, sit with their wives in a courtroom in Sumner, Mississippi. In this Sept. 23, 1955, file photo, J.W. And we were doing the bop, that's the bebop, and we just danced and had fun. In 1981, Milam died of cancer of the bone. Streamline Films, Inc. An all-white, all-male jury acquitted Bryant and Milam of kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till. That took an awful lot of courage for him to get up there and do what he did. Ah, so Wednesday went by, Thursday went by, nothin'. It had sex, it had murder, it had mystery. The case may be closed, but the issue of racist-inspired violence against black males persists. Narrator:Fifty thousand people in Chicago had seen Emmett Till's corpse with their own eyes. But it did happen. Doham, who was 21 at the time of Till's murder and is now 87, was not arrested or charged in Till's lynching in 1955, but her former husband, Roy Bryant, and brother-in-law, J.W. That was a way of life. It's been almost three months since Will Smith shocked the celebrity world by slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars. He's only 14, and he's from up North. The only way that Moses Wright, Emmett's uncle, could identify the body was through an initial ring belonging to Emmett's father, Louis Till. He said, "I got a writ for you. Then, Emmett went in and bought two cents' worth of bubblegum. Both men were ostracized. But I didn't accept it. He did a few welding jobs but eventually returned to the grocery business. They brought their children, picnic baskets and ice cream cones. Chicago Tribune Company Here's what you should know about the movie, 7 Inspiring Benefits of Breastfeeding Your Child: "Reduce Risks of Diseases", Lufthansa closes in on stake in Italy's ITA Airways, Will Smith Accepts Invite from Daring Zanzibari High Divers: "I'm on My Way", Who are Queen Naija's parents? Filmed interview with William Bradford Huie conducted for America, They Loved You Madly, a precursor to Eyes on the Prize. Mamie: I don't know, just by answering whatever questions that they ask me. When the black magazineJetran photos of the body, black Americans across the country shuddered. Mamie: To answer any questions that my, that the attorneys might ask me to answer. I passed, they still beatin', they still beatin'. Carolyn Bryant testified under oath that Emmett said ugly remarks to her before whistling. Many whites in the surrounding counties showed up to watch the show. He visited a grocery store called Bryant's Grocery, which was owned by Donham and her husband Roy Bryant, both of whom were white. Getty Images Willie Reed, Mississippi resident The next year Bryant and Milan were paid between $3600 and $4000 for an interview with Look magazine. Wasn't much, wasn't really a town. The Karla Brown story: What happened and the latest updates. The 235-pound Milam was a hard drinking man with a reputation for being tough on anyone who got in his way. Milam, Corbis, Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market, Chicago Defender, Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! We were just all good friends. William Winter:People of the socioeconomic level of the two defendants in this case were obviously looked down on by the more aristocratic ah, whites almost ah, with the same disdain that they looked down on blacks. Milam, of the 1955 kidnapping and murder of Till. Those accusations led. Interviewer: Thank you very much. Milam calmly smokes a cigar as his wife mugs for the camera, after he and his half-brother, Roy Bryant, were acquitted of having murdered Emmet Louis Till . Charles Tisdale Magnolia Cooksey-Mathious:And as we were led into the church, my girlfriends and myself, we walked up to the casket and it was covered with a glass and we all looked down; this was our friend laying lookin' like a monster. Donham was quiet about her. Mamie Till:The verdict came in "not guilty". "Hell no, that's shit you talking." The boys corpse would later be found decomposing in the Tallahatchie River. And he looked at me and he said, "Aw, Mama." The boy laughed. The two men are now longer alive and died many years ago. What was the motive for their brutal acts? Margaret Crimmins Roy Bryant was one of the people indicted for murder in 1955. People became vocal who had never vocalized before. William Winter:When one drives through the lowest hills and looks out at the sweep of those fields below, flat as a pancake as far as the eye could see, it's breath taking. She died on January 6, 2003 at the age of 81. Elaine Owens Roy Bryant was married to Carolyn Bryant Donham until his death. But he turned around and he came back and he kissed me good-bye and he said, "Here. And Emmett was a fun young man, just like any other young teenager. Robert E. Luckett Jr. William Winter, Governor:It was argued in coffee shops all over the Deep South, that "If we give on this, then we'll, we'll start giving on everything else and the first thing you know, we won't have a segregated society, and black people will be taking over in this part of the country.". A childhood case of polio left him with a stutter, but by the time he was a teenager, Emmett Till had grown into a cocky, self-assured boy who loved to be the center of attention. (Laughs) And they just tried to ruin the thing. After the trial, Roy lost his store after a boycott from the black community. Who is Roy Bryant and J.W Milam? The trial opened in September 1955, and the international press flooded the courtroom. And he was the lively one. Outraged, Roy Bryant and his half-brother, J.W. There's a spot about a mile and a half from the bridge where the banks are steep. According to the interview Milam and Bryant gave to Huie, Milam killed Emmett with his . Chicago Sun-Times The message to black people was clear: hide what you know; hide even what you think, or face the consequences. Shortly after the men were acquitted, they sold their story for $4,000 to reporter William Bradford Huie. And, Beau if you see a white woman coming down the street, you get off the sidewalk and drop your head. ", Mamie Till:As the jury retired, the black people who were standing around the walls began to ease out of the door. Magnolia Cooksey-Mathious:It was on a Sunday afternoon. After the murder trial, he lost his store and moved, doing various jobs over the years. Roy, Carolyn and J. W. became celebrities. To earn extra cash, Roy worked as a trucker with his half-brother J. W. Milam, an imposing man of six-feet-two inches, weighing 235 pounds. I just can't go into detail to tell you the silly things, the stupid things that were brought up as probabilities and they swallowed it like a fish swallows a hook. We had a lot of fun. Harry Caise, mortician After the town's show of support at the trial, the men talked freely about how they killed the young teen from Chicago. Milam were acquitted of the brutal murder of a 14-year-old Chicago boy named Emmett Till. 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