MAMIE TILL-MOBLEY died on January 6, 2003, at the age of eighty-one. Following the death of her only child, Emmett Till, she entered Chicago Teachers College in September 1956, graduating cum laude and fifth in her class three and a half years later. In 1973, she earned a master’s degree in administration and supervision at Loyola University. Till-Mobley was a frequent lecturer throughout the country, recalling the struggle for civil rights and urging her listeners to be the best they could be.
A Chicago-based writer and lawyer, CHRISTOPHER BENSON has served as features editor for Ebony and as Washington editor for Ebony and Jet. He also contributed to The Washington Post, The Crisis, Chicago, and Reader’s Digest. Benson is the author of the novel Special Interest.