JACKSON - Stretches of Mississippi highways in three counties would be renamed for victims of the nation's most infamous civil rights killings under a bill approved Thursday by the state Senate.
A stretch of Mississippi 19 near Philadelphia, believed to be the site of the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, would be renamed for the three civil rights workers ambushed and killed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1964.
A reputed former Klansman, Edgar Ray Killen, was recently indicted on state charges in the case.
The bill also renames a portion of U.S. 49 East in Leflore and Tallahatchie counties the Emmett Till Memorial Highway, in honor of the 14-year-old black youth who was beaten to death by white men in 1955, purportedly for whistling at a white woman. That case has also recently been reopened by prosecutors.
If the bill is approved in the House and signed by Gov. Haley Barbour, it would be the first state-sponsored memorial for Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner, said Sen. Gloria Williamson, D-Philadelphia.
Williamson began to cry as she answered questions after the unanimous vote by the 52-member, conservative Senate, which has eight black members.
"I'm very proud of this Senate because it shows how Mississippi truly feels," she said. "We acknowledge the deaths of these three boys as heroic acts."
Under the bill, the state's highway department would erect signs bearing the victims' names along the routes.
Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, who presides over the Senate, said the bill sends a strong message to the nation about Mississippi. "It will go a long way in promoting race relations in our state," she said.
Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, represents the district where Till's murder occurred.
Till of Chicago was visiting relatives in Money in 1955. He purportedly whistled at the white wife of a storeowner and was later abducted from his uncle's home and beaten to death. His mutilated was found in a Tallahatchie River.
Jordan said dozens of tourists visit the now-closed and dilapidated store in Money each month.
"People from all over the world will travel that highway and see that sign," Jordan said.
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