In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was wrongfully beaten to death and lynched in Mississippi. And for years after his passing, people, the state, and institutions tried to hide the truth behind his murder. Now, 70 years later, another piece of his story has been purchased for the sake of preserving Till’s story and the truth.
Recently, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center purchased the barn located in Drew, Mississippi, where Till was reportedly tortured and murdered. And the organization, committed to restorative justice through historic preservation, was able to do so with the help of Hollywood producer and writer Shonda Rhimes.
“Through the generosity of writer and producer Shonda Rhimes and the resolve of local residents, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center has purchased and protected the barn. It will be preserved not merely as a structure, but as sacred ground — a place where truth can live without fear of being forgotten,” the organization wrote in an open letter announcing the news. “We did not save this place to dwell in grief. We saved it so that truth could keep shaping us.”
In 2023, Rhimes revealed her partnership with the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, a decision she says was deeply inspired by a 2021 article in “The Atlantic” by Wright Thompson that first investigated the history of the barn where Till was killed.
“The murder of Emmett Till was the real fire that lit the civil rights movement in so many ways,” she told “Good Morning America’s” Robin Roberts. “My hope is that this story never gets lost. “History is always told by the victors. And I think that it’s important that the Till family is the victor in this story.”
And now, by the 75th anniversary of Till’s death in 2030, the organization says the barn will be open as “a part of a larger public memorial — a place of truth, creativity, and conscience,” where people can visit, reflect, and confront the uncomfortable truth about what happened to the 14-year-old. The barn is only the latest in the Emmett Till Interpretive Center’s projects to preserve Till’s story; the organization has restored “the courthouse where justice failed,” and commemorated the riverbank where Emmett’s body was found.
The news of the purchase were intentionally released on November 23, the birthday of Till’s mother—Mamie Till-Mobley.
“This work reaches beyond restoration. It asks a harder question: what does it mean to be a people who remember? Facing the past honestly is not an act of guilt; it is an act of shared responsibility — a recognition that history belongs to all of us and demands something from each of us,” the organization wrote. “the barn is more than history — it is a reminder of what democracy requires from each of us: honesty, courage, and the willingness to remember together.”
