Emmett Till ~ July 23, 1941 - August 28, 1955

Fourteen year old Emmett was brutally murdered and mutilated on August 28 by white supremacists Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam in Drew, Mississippi. His body was dumped into the Tallahatchie River and was found three days later with a cotton gin tied around his neck. Roy Bryant's wife, Carolyn, alleged Emmett had touched or flirted with her when he stopped in the Bryant's store. Roy and J.W. then kidnapped him from Emmett's grandfather's house where he was staying and committed this horrendous crime. An all white jury later acquitted the men. These two then later admitted to the crime in a paid interview with Look magazine. They were never punished.

Carolyn recanted her testimony in 2017 and then denied she had done so. J.W. died in 1981, Roy in 1994, and Carolyn in 2023.

The Chicago History Museum had a small Emmett Till exhibit last year.

Medgar Evers was a pivotal figure in the investigation of Emmett's murder and a crucial voice in publicizing the murder and calling for justice. Evers was a Civil Rights Activist and NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. As an attorney, the Till murder was his first case. He was later assassinated in his driveway by KKK member, Byron De La Beckwith. After two earlier trials, Beckwith was finally convicted of murder in 1994 and died in prison in 2001. Justice arrived for Evers but never did for Emmett Till.

Emmett's mother insisted on a open casket at the funeral so people could see her son's mutilated body. That horrid sight helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement.

Emmett is buried in Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, and we stopped to pay our respects in June, 2026.

Medgar Evers is buried in Arlington National Cemetery and we found his gravesite in October, 2024.

In 2023, President Joe Biden signed legislation commissioning the three Till sites as a National Monument.

Rest in Peace, Emmett Till and Medgar Evers 💔

James Lovell ~ March 25, 1928 - August 7, 2025

One of my all time favorite astronauts died at age 97 on August 7, 2025. He was part of the "New Nine" and was the last of them to pass away.

Lovell flew two Gemini missions (7 and 12) and two Apollo missions (8 and 13).  He may be most remembered for the Apollo 13 flight but Apollo 8 was an incredible mission. It was the first crewed mission to orbit the moon and Lovell, Borman, and Anders took this flight with great risk and many unknowns. They were the first to see the dark side of the moon and returned safely to talk about it. The famous "Earthrise" photo was taken by Anders on this flight. Apollo 11 pushed Apollo 8 out of the limelight but it was a historic mission in so many ways. You can read about all of his missions elsewhere, however. 

Lovell is one of three astronauts who flew to the moon twice (Young and Cernan were the others) but he is the only one of the three who didn't get to walk on the moon.

We never got to meet Jim Lovell but have met his spacecraft 😊

Gemini VII is held in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

Gemini XII is displayed in the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois.

The Apollo 8 capsule is housed in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

The famous Apollo 13 capsule is in the Cosmosphere Museum in Hutchinson, Kansas. It was difficult to get good photos of it with so much glass and so many reflections but we were still thrilled to see it.

Mission Control for the Apollo missions was located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. We took a tour in 2024.

Here are a few Lovell items we found in the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

I have one Jim Lovell book which I treasure.

And "Earthrise" has been hanging in my office for many years.

RIP Captain Lovell. You were one of the best 💗