SUMNER – The Emmett Till Interpretive Center (ETIC) invites members of the Delta community to attend a community input meeting about a private memorial to Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley on Graball Landing, the Tallahatchie River site near Sharkey Road where his body may have been pulled from the river in 1955. The meeting will be held on Thursday, June 23, at 6 p.m., at the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, 158 N. Court St., Sumner. Food will be provided.
The meeting will be an opportunity for the design team to update the community on progress planning the memorial and to gather input on early design ideas, especially related to the overall scale of the project. This meeting will build on other community input meetings about the project that took place in October 2021 and March 2022. All members of the community are invited to attend, regardless of participation in previous discussions.
Since early 2021, ETIC has partnered with Belinda Stewart Architects and MASS Design Group to begin planning a memorial on the Tallahatchie River site.
Belinda Stewart Architects restored the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner and has been involved in other Emmett Till-related historic preservation and memorial projects.
MASS Design Group designed the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama — the memorial to lynching victims across the United States that was developed with the Equal Justice Initiative.
“Our hope is that this memorial will provide a sacred site of reflection for visitors from across the country to reflect on the tragic murder of Emmett Till — and the impact that his murder had on American history and the trajectory of the civil rights movement,” said Patrick Weems, executive director of the ETIC. “We hope the memorial can show how our community has moved forward and come together since the tragedy.”
Questions about Thursday’s meeting can be directed to the ETIC at 662-483-1231 or info@emmett-till.org.
