November 28, 2025
The move is designed to prevent the site from being exploited by speculators or hate groups, securing the narrative’s integrity for public memory.
On Nov. 23, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center (ETIC) acquired the barn connected to the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, securing one of the most significant and fragile sites in American civil rights history after agreeing to a purchase price of $1.5 million.
The purchase ensures the structure—which eyewitness Willie Reed identified as the location where Till was tortured before his death—will be preserved and transformed into a “sacred space for truth, healing, and national reflection.”
The move is designed to prevent the site from being exploited by speculators or hate groups, securing the narrative’s integrity for public memory.
Preservation Over Profit in the Delta
The ETIC, a community-based organization with a two-decade history of ethical stewardship in the Mississippi Delta, will hold the title to the property.
Leadership stated the decision was guided by Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, whose charge to “let the world see” remains central to the organization’s mission.
The financial transaction was not taken lightly; the organization had explored alternatives, including donations and eminent domain, but ultimately deemed the risk of the barn falling into private hands too great.
“We chose preservation over risk, and truth over silence — because you can’t put a price on our history,” the organization wrote.
The acquisition was funded through private philanthropy, with leadership support coming from the Rhimes Family Foundation. No public funds were used.
Ending Erasure and Building Conscience
The barn, located outside Drew, Mississippi, holds a profound historical weight. After their acquittal, Till’s killers falsely changed their public accounts, effectively attempting to write the barn out of the history—a silence the ETIC is determined to end.
The Interpretive Center emphasizes that preserving the structure is a necessary act to counter historical violence: “Because erasure is a form of violence… Preserving the barn transforms a site of harm into a place of truth and healing.”
“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 near Drew, MS, where Emmett Till was brutally beaten and murdered. 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 caption read on the ETIC’s Instagram account.
The ETIC now plans a multi-year process that will culminate in the site opening as part of a larger public memorial by the 75th anniversary of the lynching in 2030. The immediate next steps include:
- Stabilization and preservation to prevent structural collapse.
- Community engagement and design guided by descendants of the Till family and local elders.
- Interpretation and access to develop the site as a space for reflection and learning.
The organization’s highest hope for the barn is that it becomes a sacred site of conscience, moving visitors to confront the human cost of injustice and “recognize that attacks on dignity endanger democracy.”
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