(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – The white woman at the center of Emmett Till’s murder has died, but one of Till’s surviving cousins says Carolyn Bryant Donham had ceased to exist in her mind, anyway.
Ollie Gordon said she did not know Donham had died when she overheard a comment a relative made.
"I guess I could repeat it,” she tells WBBM Newsradio. “One was saying, 'Well, I hope she goes straight to hell.'
"And I was like, why did they say that? Because I didn't know who they were talking about at the time."
Gordon says she considered Donham already dead.
"I never saw her as a living person walking around. That's how I could mentally deal with it,” she said.
Gordon was 7 when Emmett Till was murdered in 1955. Two white men, including Donham’s then-husband, Roy Bryant, lynched the Chicago teen after he allegedly whistled at Donham while visiting Mississippi.
This Saturday, Argo Community High School in Summit will unveil a statue of Emmett Till's mother, Mamie Till Mobley, the first Black student to make the honor roll.
Related
Listen to our new podcast Courier Pigeon
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram