The Controversy and Contexts of Using Emmett Till’s Image – The New York Times

There are few photographs more consequential in African-American history — and our nation’s — than those of Emmett Till’s mutilated corpse. The images from 1955 are gruesome and emotionally devastating, coming as they did after the 14-year-old was beaten and shot by two white men. And while authorities in Mississippi tried to bury the teenager as quickly as possible, his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, insisted otherwise, allowing photographers to commemorate the ghastly scene.