August 1955
Events
- August 13, 1955Lamar Smith Shot Dead on Courthouse Lawn for Helping Black Voters
On August 13, 1955, Lamar Smith is shot and killed on the Lincoln County courthouse lawn in Brookhaven, Mississippi in broad daylight in front of numerous witnesses. Smith was 63 years old and had been helping Black citizens file absentee ballots to circumvent white primaries. A white man is arrested covered in blood but witnesses refuse to testify and the case is dismissed. Smith's murder occurs two weeks before Emmett Till's kidnapping, part of a summer of racial terror in Mississippi.
- August 28, 1955The murder of Emmett Till
The lynching of a 14-year-old in Mississippi, and his mother's open casket, galvanizes the movement.
- August 28, 1955The murder of Emmett Till
In August 1955 a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago was tortured and murdered in Mississippi; his mother's decision to hold an open-casket funeral seared the nation's conscience and helped ignite the civil rights movement.
Resources from this period
Books·2
A young-reader history of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till and the trial that helped spark the civil rights movement.
The definitive account of the case, in which Carolyn Bryant reportedly recanted part of her 1955 testimony.
Documentaries·4
The official home of the landmark 14-part civil-rights documentary.
Three-part 2022 docuseries on Mamie Till-Mobley and the case, executive-produced by Will Smith and Jay-Z.
Stanley Nelson''s acclaimed PBS documentary on the murder and trial (clips, transcript, timeline).
The 2005 documentary credited with helping reopen the federal investigation into the case.
Websites·2
The national monument and history of Emmett Till's murder and its legacy.
The 2023 national monument preserving three Till sites in Mississippi and Chicago.