On August 28, 2025, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History unveiled a chilling piece of American history: the .45-caliber pistol and holster used in the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, now on display at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson. The announcement, timed to the 70th anniversary of Till’s murder, marks a somber milestone in the ongoing reckoning with one of the most harrowing crimes of the 20th century—a crime that helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement and continues to haunt the American conscience.
The artifacts, once owned by J.W. Milam—one of the two white men charged and later acquitted in Till’s murder—were acquired from a Mississippi family not connected to the case. Their identities remain confidential as part of the acquisition agreement, according to Michael Morris, director of the Two Mississippi Museums, which includes both the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. "One of the reasons why this civil rights museum was created is to tell the unvarnished truth about what happened in terms of the Civil Rights Movement here in Mississippi," Morris said at a news conference, as reported by Mississippi Today. "That’s our mission, and I think the acquisition of this artifact is a part of our mission."
The Foundation for Mississippi History facilitated the acquisition, donating the pistol and holster to the state’s archives. The gun’s journey from Milam’s possession to the museum’s glass case is itself a story of secrecy and the passage of decades. For years, the weapon was kept in a safety deposit box in Greenwood, Mississippi, and only came to light during filmmaker Keith Beauchamp’s investigation for his 2005 documentary, "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till." The FBI, which reopened the Till case in 2004 under its Cold Case Initiative, confirmed that the gun’s serial number matches the weapon scrutinized in its investigation.
The exhibit, featuring the gun and holster, is designed to present the full narrative of Emmett Till’s tragic visit to Mississippi. In August 1955, the 14-year-old traveled from Chicago to the Mississippi Delta to visit relatives. A trip to Bryant’s Grocery & Meat Market in Money, Mississippi, led to a false accusation that Till had whistled at Carolyn Bryant, the white storekeeper. Four days later, in the early hours of August 28, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam abducted Till from his great-uncle’s home. He was taken to a barn, where he was beaten, tortured, and fatally shot. His body, tied with barbed wire to a 75-pound cotton gin fan, was dumped in the Tallahatchie River.
Three days later, Till’s body was discovered, so badly disfigured that only a ring on his finger identified him. The brutality of the crime shocked the nation. Till’s mother, Mamie Till Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral in Chicago, declaring, "I want the world to see what they did to my boy." Jet magazine published a photo of Till’s mutilated body, galvanizing outrage and spurring the Civil Rights Movement into action.
The subsequent trial in Mississippi was a travesty of justice. An all-white jury acquitted Milam and Bryant in September 1955, despite overwhelming evidence. Just months later, both men admitted their guilt in a paid interview with Look magazine, published in January 1956. The gun now on display is believed to be the same one Milam used to pistol-whip and shoot Till. In 2005, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office in Illinois confirmed that Till died from a gunshot wound to the head, a finding that reinforced the horrific details long recounted by witnesses and historians.
The acquisition and display of the murder weapon have stirred profound emotions among those closest to the case. Nan Prince, director of collections at the Department of Archives and History, reflected on the artifact’s impact: "This weapon has affected me more so than any other artifact that I’ve encountered in my 30-year museum career. The emotions that are centered around it are hard, and a hard thing to see and a hard thing to convey."
Family members, too, have expressed mixed feelings. Wheeler Parker, Till’s cousin who was in the home the night Till was abducted, said, "I think it’s good because it brings closure. I hope you guys can find the ring and cotton gin. Thank you for doing this." Deborah Watts, another cousin and co-founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, remarked, "It’s 70 years that we stand here today, feeling the same sense of injustice, feeling the same sense of pain, feeling the same sense that his death will not be in vain as his mother wanted and feeling the same sense for the search for truth, justice and accountability."
The museum’s decision to display the gun was not taken lightly. "Once we got acquisition of it, the question became: Should we put it on display? And we didn’t think that this was the kind of artifact that we wanted to just put away in a drawer somewhere," Morris explained. The hope is that the exhibit will educate future generations about the realities of racial violence and injustice in America’s past. "The gun and holster, along with other artifacts in the case, will be used to educate generations about this era in our nation’s history," Morris said, as reported by WDAM.
The unveiling of the artifacts also coincides with renewed public interest in the Till case. Just a week before the announcement, the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board released more than 6,500 pages of documents related to Till’s murder, offering new insights and reaffirming the importance of confronting this history head-on. The museum’s exhibit sits alongside another infamous weapon: the .30-06 rifle used in the assassination of Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers in 1963, underscoring the state’s pivotal—and painful—role in the struggle for civil rights.
Commemorative events have been planned throughout Mississippi to honor Till’s legacy, including a screening of the film "Till" at Tougaloo College, a memorial parade, and a "Worship in White" service. These gatherings reflect a continued commitment to remembering Till not only as a victim of hatred but as a catalyst for change.
For many, the display of the murder weapon is a stark reminder of the violence at the heart of America’s racial history. But it is also a testament to the enduring quest for truth, remembrance, and justice—a quest that, even 70 years later, continues to shape the nation’s conscience.
