Emmett Till's Casket Discarded By Chicago-Area Grave Workers

In this Sept. 6, 1955 photo, a large crowd gathers outside the Roberts Temple Church of God In Christ in Chicago, Ill., as pallbearers carry the casket of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American boy who was slain while on a visit to Mississippi. AP Photo/Chicago Sun-Times, File hide caption

toggle caption AP Photo/Chicago Sun-Times, File

When it was learned that cemetery workers in a suburban Chicago cemetery had emptied some graves and dumped the human remains in order to resell the plots, some were concerned that among the graves desecrated might be that of Emmett Till, the black teenager whose 1955 lynching in Mississippi helped spark the Civil Rights movement.

As it turns out, Till's grave wasn't among those desecrated. But Till still figures in the story since the casket he was originally buried in was, to the surprise of investigator's and Till's family, found falling apart in the back of an old shed.

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Till's body was legally exhumed in 2005 as part of a criminal investigation decades after the murder and when his remains were re-interred, because the original casket's condition, state law required the body to be reburied in a new casket.

The old casket was meant to be reconditioned so it could become part in a memorial to Till. But the cemetery official suspected as the ringleader in the grave-desecration scheme, never followed through on the casket repairs. Law enforcement officials also claim she pocketed some of the donations meant for a Till memorial. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports on All Things Considered on the alleged theft of funds meant for the memorial and the sorry state of Till's grave.

As caskets go, the Till's became almost as famous as Till because his mother Mamie insisted that the casket be kept open, with a plate of glass over Till, so the world could see what the racists who tortured and killed the 14-year old had done to her son. Thousands filed by the casket and photos of it were seen around the world.

So the casual way with which the casket was discarded only adds to the shock over what the cemetery workers are accused of doing.

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The Chicago Tribune's coverage has many more details.