Emmett Till's Chicago home in Woodlawn granted landmark status

ByABC7 Chicago Digital Team WLS logo
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Emmett Till's Woodlawn home could become Chicago Landmark
Emmett Till's Woodlawn home could become Chicago LandmarkEmmett Till was a Chicago teen who was brutally killed by a white mob at the age of 14, while visiting relatives in Mississippi in 1955. His murder sparked the Civil Rights movement.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Emmett Till's former Chicago home in the Woodlawn neighborhood has been granted landmark status.

Till was a Chicago teen who was brutally killed by a white mob at the age of 14, while visiting relatives in Mississippi in 1955. His murder sparked the Civil Rights Movement.

Chicago's City Council approved landmark status for the Victorian-era two flat in the 6400-block of South St. Lawrence Wednesday.

RELATED: Emmett Till's legacy lives on 65 years after Chicago teen killed in Mississippi

Eight years to the day before MLK Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, 14-year-old Emmett Till was lynched and thrown from a Mississippi bridge for allegedly whistling at a white woman.

It was home to Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, whom lived on the second floor. Other relatives lived on the first and garden levels.

Mamie Till-Mobley lived in the house for several more years. However, neglect took a toll on the house and it is now vacant.

Landmark status will keep the historic home from being demolished. There are plans to turn it into a museum.

The video featured in the player above is from an earlier report.

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