Yesterday, the D.C. Public Libray opened a new Emmett Till exhibition at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library –  Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See. For a limited time, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is bringing this exhibit to D.C. to share Till’s legacy.

“Emmett [Till’s] story is not a pleasant story – it’s not a pretty story but it has to be told,” Reverend Wheeler Parker, Emmett Till’s cousin and last living witness to Emmett Till’s abduction said in a statement. “We wanted to partner with The Children’s Museum because they are an entity that is telling the truth and we want to be a part of that.”

Till was 14 years old in 1955 when he traveled to Mississippi to visit family. After Carolyn Bryant accused him of grabbing her wrist and waist and making lewd comments at her — testimony she later admitted was partially untrue — he was murdered by Carolyn’s husband, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam. Till’s story has been revisited a lot in the past year with Carolyn Bryant’s declined indictment, a trilogy of plays exploring his story here in D.C., and a film that came out last year.

“There’s certainly a moment for Till, and I think that a lot of it has to do with just the renewed appreciation for the past,” Richard Reyes-Gavilan, executive director of DC Public Library says

The exhibition is tailored toward younger audiences ages 10 and up and focuses on Mamie’s advocacy for her son, starting with her choice to show his open casket to the world. DCPL has also put together its own companion exhibition, Mothers of the Movement, uplifting Black women activists in our region. In addition to teaching about Mamie’s advocacy, the exhibition highlights Emmett’s personal story, how community and family members helped keep his legacy alive, and how the Black press helped tell his story.

“There are elements of the exhibition that shows, for example, Jet magazine and other Black-specific media telling the story. Well, basically telling the truth,” Reyes-Gavilan says. “And you begin to understand that stories like Emmett Till’s may never have come to light had it not been for the Black press.”

The exhibit also has modern ties with a feature display of a historical sign marking where Till’s body was found. The marker was shot and vandalized multiple times.

“In 2018 our historic marker was shot and vandalized for a third time,”  Patrick Weems, Executive Director, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, MS said in a statement. “Despite the repeated vandalism of these signs, our community has united again and again to replace them to tell the truth about what happened to Emmett Till.”

The exhibit will be available in D.C. Jan. 26 – March 12. In addition to D.C, the exhibition will tour in Indianapolis, Birmingham, Jackson, Chicago, Atlanta, and Memphis. After touring, the exhibition will permanently reside in the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, Mississippi.