Overview

• The Emmett Till Interpretive Center and the National Parks Conservation Association organized a commemorative Amtrak ride from Chicago’s Union Station to Greenwood, Mississippi, mirroring Till’s 1955 trip.
• Passengers included Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., Till’s cousin and the last surviving eyewitness to the abduction, his wife Dr. Marvel Parker, and Juliet Louis, widow of witness Willie Reed.
• The Mississippi Department of Archives and History unveiled a .45‑caliber pistol and holster linked to J.W. Milam, authenticated by an FBI‑matched serial number and donated by a Mississippi Delta family that requested anonymity.
• The weapon is now part of the Emmett Till exhibit at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, even as some relatives, including cousin Deborah Watts, questioned tying a murder weapon to the anniversary.
• Commemorations span Chicago and Mississippi, with graveside tributes at Burr Oak Cemetery and multi‑day programs in the Delta, while calls for accountability persist after federal probes most recently closed in 2021.