The cousin and childhood best friend of Emmett Till will speak at a University of Kansas event this week.
KU’s Spencer Museum of Art will host Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., who’s the last known living witness to Till’s kidnapping by two white men who then brutally beat and lynched him for whistling at a white woman. It happened in 1955 when 16-year-old Parker and 14-year-old Till had traveled together from Chicago to Mississippi to visit family.
“Emmett Till’s story is not a pleasant story — it’s not a pretty story, but it has to be told,” Parker said in a news release. “It must be told because we need to know the truth. The thing I want families to take away from this is that we can learn from the past on what not to do and we can improve on race relations at this time.”
Parker’s talk is in conjunction with the traveling exhibition “Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See,” which Lawrence artists and curators have contributed to.
At the event, Parker will be introduced by his wife, Marvel Parker, who serves as executive director of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute.
Dave Tell, KU professor of communication studies, was a historical consultant for the design and content of the exhibition and will facilitate the conversation with Parker.
“There are plenty of museum exhibits about the Till story,” Tell said in the release. “This one is unique because it was created in consultation with the Till family and because it brings the story up to the present day. We don’t just learn what happened in 1955. We also learn how hard it has been to tell the story of what happened in 1955.”
Parker’s talk is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 24. In-person registration is closed, but virtual attendance is still welcome. A livestream will be available on the Spencer Museum’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/@SpencerMuseum/streams.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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