Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument

In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till traveled to Money, Mississippi, to visit relatives. He was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered after reportedly whistling at a white woman. His mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral near their hometown of Chicago.

Her brave decision let the world see the racist violence inflicted upon her son and set the Civil Rights Movement into motion.