A proposed partnership between Tallahatchie County and Leflore counties could establish a scenic trail marking the story of Emmett Till's life.
The recently established Emmett Till Memorial Tourism Commission in Tallahatchie County has proposed the idea to draw tourism dollars to the area.
Jerome Little, president of the Tallahatchie County Board of Supervisors, offered a partnership to Leflore County supervisors Monday night.
"We have the opportunity to create a unique situation," Little said. "A tourism mecca."
Supervisors told Little they would take the matter under consideration and get back to the commission by the first of March.
The trail would begin at the Bryant Grocery in Money, where Till, a 14-year-old black youth visiting from Chicago, wolf whistled at Carolyn Bryant, a white woman and wife of the store's owner. Bryant told her husband, Roy. Roy and his half-brother J.W. Milam lynched him.
The trail would end at the courthouse in Sumner, where Bryant and Milam were acquitted of all charges.
The two men later confessed to Look magazine that they lynched Till then dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River for his action.
Till's death has been credited for galvanizing the Civil Rights Movement.
Other stops along the trail would include a cotton gin in Glendora, which supplied the gin fan used to weight down Till's body. Also a funeral home in Tutwiler, where Till's body was embalmed.
Little said signs would be placed at historic spots along the route.
The commission has run into opposition from some citizens. Some don't feel we should go back to 1955, Little said. "They think it could bring back some heartaches."
