His part in the murder/interview

DSA: How old were you, and where were you living at the time of the Emmett Till murder case?

HSW: I was fifteen years old. I was living in Charleston, one of the two (the larger) county seats in Tallahatchie County. Maps in my thesis show it. My stepfather, N. Z. Troutt, was Chief of Police in Charleston. He considered running for sheriff in 1955 and decided that he did not have the money necessary to run a campaign. He was deputized by Strider to assist with the trial. A bomb was stuck under my bedroom window (on the front porch) about six feet from my head, during the trial. I jumped out of bed and the culprit removed the bomb and ran to a car and sped off.


DSA: How old were you, and where were you living at the time of the Emmett Till murder case?

HSW: I was fifteen years old. I was living in Charleston, one of the two (the larger) county seats in Tallahatchie County. Maps in my thesis show it. My stepfather, N. Z. Troutt, was Chief of Police in Charleston. He considered running for sheriff in 1955 and decided that he did not have the money necessary to run a campaign. He was deputized by Strider to assist with the trial. A bomb was stuck under my bedroom window (on the front porch) about six feet from my head, during the trial. I jumped out of bed and the culprit removed the bomb and ran to a car and sped off.

DSA: Did you know any of the players in the trial?

HSW: I knew everyone who was involved in the trial -- sheriff, prosecutor, judge, defense attorneys, and all the jurors, I believe, at least casually. Most had children in school with me. I did not know the defendants except by reputation, or any of the African American people from Money, Mississippi.

Money was not really incorporated. Most of the “town,” which was really small, was located on or near the west bank of the Tallahatchie River (again see the maps in the theses online). The river, at that point, separates Tallahatchie County from Leflore County.

The kidnapping occurred in Leflore County, near the west bank of the river. The murder occurred near a bridge, but on the east bank of the river, making Tallahatchie County the actual murder site. Money would have been about 15-20 miles from Charleston. Again see the maps in the thesis. The prosecutors decided to select jurors primarily from the northeast section of the county -- the hill county, rather than the Delta. The Delta had very rich soil, was totally flat, and had large plantations or farms. Sheriff Strider lived on the west bank of the river, and had a farm of several thousand acres, planted almost totally in cotton, and employed hundreds of African American farm hands. He had a road from Highway 32 to his home, and there were seven white concrete block, well manicured homes, occupied by seven African American families -- employees. On the top of each roof, facing west, was one ten-foot high word -- S-T-R-I-D-E-R (a little aside).

The prosecutorial strategy was to get jurors from as far away from Money as possible, thinking this was the best strategy. However, this led to the selection of mostly farmers who farmed mainly small farms with poor soil, in the hill area, and who viewed African Americans as competitors -- much the same as many in the same situation today view Hispanics. Also, most of the people who knew J. W. Milam, and to a lesser degree, his half brother Roy Bryant, disliked and/or feared them. So the jury selection strategy backfired and played into the defense's hands. Clearly it would have been possible to find jurors who would have voted for conviction based on the evidence. In fact one of the jurors told his son, who was about my age, that the original vote was 9-3 for acquittal. Unanimity came on the second ballot. In 1962-63, when I interviewed them, no one mentioned two ballots.


DSA: Did Sheriff Strider talk to you about his theory at the time of the trial that the body recovered from the Tallahatchie River was not that of Emmett Till? Especially in light of the confession article that was published in Look magazine?

HSW: Sheriff Strider talked with me quite freely on this. He gave me his (I think) entire collection of hate mail, as well as many from people who supported his actions. He and County Attorney Hamilton Caldwell both confirmed that neither of them, nor really anyone involved with the case, had ANY doubts that the body was that of Emmett Till. It was unclear whether Strider or the defense attorneys came up with the idea to create a "smoke screen" which would give the jurors an "out". Both the sheriff and the lawyers implied to me that the “smoke screen” was their idea. The jurors selected were going to acquit. This "smoke screen" gave the jurors an "out", and kept them from receiving as much scorn as everyone involved felt would be coming at them. Not one juror stated to me that he had any doubt about the body's identity, or that the accused had actually murdered Till. Strider, the jurors, and everyone involved really resented the Look article. It clearly made them all look like fools for having supported the brothers.

I interviewed Huie at his home in Alabama for an entire day. Huie gave me complete information on all that had transpired, and copies of all his books. Huie also gave me many ideas about writing style, and about being courageous in seeking to be fair, accurate, and honest. He was very strong in his attitudes about civil rights, and was a great influence on my research and upon the rest of my life. It was not easy for him to be a white supporter of equality and justice in Alabama in the early 1960's.

I should finally say that neither Strider nor anyone involved with the case ever doubted the identity of the body or who the killers were. And no one expressed anything but extreme dislike and disapproval for Milam and Bryant. All hoped they would never return to Mississippi, even for a visit. I should say that the defense attorneys confirmed the accuracy of the Look article. They also confirmed that the brothers acted alone. My suspicions about this last theory are shown on page 150 of the thesis. It was unclear to me why Sheriff Strider had locked up two of the three African American men -- under false identities -- thought to be "involved" with the murder, before and for the duration of the trial, unless they were involved or had direct knowledge of the murder. Huie never expressed to me any doubts that the two brothers acted alone. He was pretty adamant about this. And I felt the brothers -- especially Milam -- had such enormous egos that it would not have occurred to them that it was necessary to involve anyone else.

DSA: Did Sheriff Strider talk to you about his theory at the time of the trial that the body recovered from the Tallahatchie River was not that of Emmett Till? Especially in light of the confession article that was published in Look magazine?

HSW: Sheriff Strider talked with me quite freely on this. He gave me his (I think) entire collection of hate mail, as well as many from people who supported his actions. He and County Attorney Hamilton Caldwell both confirmed that neither of them, nor really anyone involved with the case, had ANY doubts that the body was that of Emmett Till. It was unclear whether Strider or the defense attorneys came up with the idea to create a "smoke screen" which would give the jurors an "out". Both the sheriff and the lawyers implied to me that the “smoke screen” was their idea. The jurors selected were going to acquit. This "smoke screen" gave the jurors an "out", and kept them from receiving as much scorn as everyone involved felt would be coming at them. Not one juror stated to me that he had any doubt about the body's identity, or that the accused had actually murdered Till. Strider, the jurors, and everyone involved really resented the Look article. It clearly made them all look like fools for having supported the brothers.

I interviewed Huie at his home in Alabama for an entire day. Huie gave me complete information on all that had transpired, and copies of all his books. Huie also gave me many ideas about writing style, and about being courageous in seeking to be fair, accurate, and honest. He was very strong in his attitudes about civil rights, and was a great influence on my research and upon the rest of my life. It was not easy for him to be a white supporter of equality and justice in Alabama in the early 1960's.

I should finally say that neither Strider nor anyone involved with the case ever doubted the identity of the body or who the killers were. And no one expressed anything but extreme dislike and disapproval for Milam and Bryant. All hoped they would never return to Mississippi, even for a visit. I should say that the defense attorneys confirmed the accuracy of the Look article. They also confirmed that the brothers acted alone. My suspicions about this last theory are shown on page 150 of the thesis. It was unclear to me why Sheriff Strider had locked up two of the three African American men -- under false identities -- thought to be "involved" with the murder, before and for the duration of the trial, unless they were involved or had direct knowledge of the murder. Huie never expressed to me any doubts that the two brothers acted alone. He was pretty adamant about this. And I felt the brothers -- especially Milam -- had such enormous egos that it would not have occurred to them that it was necessary to involve anyone else.

DSA: Moses Wright said that there was a third person on the doorstep when Milam and Bryant came to his home. Do you, or did Huie consider the accuracy of this testimony, if the men did act alone? Do you think the third man was simply there to show them the way to Wright’s cabin and then had no further involvement?

HSW: Huie and his lawyers both believed Milam and Bryant when they said in the interview for Look Magazine that no one else was along. While it is possible someone showed them the house, I tend to doubt it.

DSA: When you did your research, did you consider the conflicting conclusions between Huie’s article and other investigative articles of the time, such as the booklet Time Bomb, and the articles by “Amos Dixon” in the Black newspaper, the California Eagle, that say there were accomplices?

HSW: I used every press article and magazine article available to me at the time of the writing. I never saw either of those, that I can remember. Huie was the only journalist to have access to the defendants. There was never any doubt as to guilt or who had killed Till, in the area -- not among anyone connected to the case. I searched my old copy of the Mississippi Code, which was applicable then, and most crimes had a two-year statute of limitations, excluding murder. It seems that an article in the past month in Mississippi newspapers seems to indicate that a truck the same color as Milam's was at the Drew location on the date it was seen. The occupants were said to be going fishing. This refers to the Willie Reed story, and the recent press reports seem to refute this. I did research on the 1955 press coverage at Florida A & M University library, and also through interlibrary loan. Hard as it is for today’s young people to believe, there was no Internet then. I was the first white student allowed to use the library. I had to sneak in a back door and work in a carrel in the stacks. One day I tired of this, and just exited through the main lobby and front door. You could have heard a pin drop. From then on, Florida State University had to open its doors to Florida A & M students.

DSA: In the Huie papers, there is a letter of Huie's, written to Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary of the NAACP, on October 12, 1955, before the Look article came out, stating that the "torture and murder party" included two other men, but that he needed their releases in order to publish their names "or no publisher will touch it." He went on to say that "I know who these men are: they are important to the story, but I have to pay them because of their 'risks'." He considered four releases (including Milam and Bryant's) as "too heavy a handicap," and said "we can if necessary, omit the names of the other two. We can even avoid all reference to them." Huie does appear to change his mind about accomplices after meeting with Milam and Bryant on October 23.

HSW: Huie never mentioned any involvement of any other persons in his day-long visit with me. He shared his notes, but of course did not give them to me. He never mentioned any other parties being involved. He did tell me he paid $7000 to the brothers for their stories. Milam and Bryant said they got $3500. Either EACH of them got $3500, and this was what the brothers meant, or the lawyers took half for arranging the meeting. He never mentioned either of the sources you list.

DSA: What do you think, then, about the testimony of Willie Reed, who said he saw the truck and the men, in addition to hearing sounds of a beating on the plantation near Drew, Sunflower County, the morning after the kidnapping?

HSW: I have reread my thesis, and I see the testimony of Willie Reed. First, the route of the truck that night, as showed to Huie (he actually drove the entire route of the supposed kidnapping) did not pass near the spot identified. This is the story referred to above, concerning a pickup truck of similar color to the one owned by Milam. As you can see from the thesis, I had doubts in 1962 about whether the brothers acted alone. I could never get any definitive statement from anyone, not even my stepfather, as to why, if the three persons I mentioned were not "involved" or witnesses, they were locked in jail under false identities before and during the trial, on Sheriff Strider’s orders. I assumed that one of them had washed the blood from the truck Sunday morning, though Milam had assured Huie and the lawyers that he alone washed out the truck. Milam was not one to do manual labor if he could pass the chore along, especially to African Americans.

sheriff strifer info

Sheriff Harold Lloyd Strider Grenada County Sheriff's DepartmentMississippiEnd of Watch: Sunday, June 23, 1996
Biographical InfoAge: 61Tour of Duty: 7 monthsBadge Number: Not available
Incident DetailsCause of Death: Heart attackDate of Incident: Saturday, June 22, 1996Weapon Used: Not availableSuspect Info: Not available
Sheriff Strider suffered a fatal heart attack during a riot at a dirt track in Gore Springs, Mississippi. The sheriff's department was providing crowd control for the opening of the track when a disturbance involving approximately 50 people erupted.Officers responded with pepper spray and riot gear. Sheriff Strider collapsed as he attempted to subdue a suspect who was assaulting him. Fellow officers performed CPR and then transported him to a local hospital, where he died the following day.Sheriff Strider had served as sheriff for only 7 months. He is survived by his wife and child.

How do i feel about racism?

If racism were happining to me I wouldnt know what to do, but to do as Im told. I believe racism is another way to show that whites are more superior over blacks, and that we're just lesser beings that have no purpose to society its self, who can just be treated like animals. This isnt what we want. We're more than that and we deserve to be free. We're not pets that you can put on a leash and tell to sit. We have minds that are the most unbelievably intelligent and can surpass them in any way. How do I feel about racism, I feel that its stupid and change is bound to happen weither they like it or not. Remember our president is black

What is the meaning behind the colors of Nigeria's Flag?

The green bands represent the forests and abundant natural wealth of Nigeria while the white band stands for peace.

Study Guide Questions for Chapter's 1-13

Study Guide Questions for Chapter's 1-13
I strongly suggest that you read this twice dailyChapters 1-41. Why was Okonkwo famous?He was a well known, successful wrestler when he was young. As an adult, he was a wealthyfarmer and strong warrior.2. Describe Unoka.He was Okonkwo’s father. He was lazy and improvident. He constantly borrowed moneythat he didn’t repay.3. Why had the men of Umuofia called a meeting?The men of Mbaino, a neighboring village, had murdered a woman of Umuofia, and the menwanted revenge.4. Where does the story take place?It takes place in the village of Umuofia, in Africa.5. What influence did the oracle have on decisions made in Umuofia?The men didn’t go to war unless the reason was accepted by the oracle.6. What were Okonkwo’s greatest fear and greatest passion?He was afraid that he would resemble his father. His greatest passion was to hate everythinghis father loved.7. What upset Okonkwo most about his son, Nwoye?Nwoye was lazy, not ambitious.8. What did Okonkwo bring home from his trip to Mbaino?He brought home a boy from the village. His name was Ikemefuna.9. How did Okonkwo begin his prosperous career?He took gifts to a wealthy man in the village and asked him for some yam seeds.10. How did Ikemefuna react to living with Okonkwo’s family?At fist he tried to run away, and refused to eat. The family treated him well and he began to\get used to living with them.11. What unheard of thing did Okonkwo do during the Week of Peace?He beat his second wife.17Short Answer Study Questions-Things Fall Apart, p. 512. How did the people view yams?Yams stood for manliness, and one who could feed his family on yams all year was a great man.Chapters 5-71. Describe the Feast of the New Yam.The Feast of the New Yam was held yearly before the harvest. It honored the earth goddess,Ani, and the ancestral spirits of the clan. New yams were offered to these powers. The oldyams of the previous year were disposed of. All cooking and serving utensils were washed.Yam foo-foo and vegetable soup were the main ceremonial dishes.2. Who was Okonkwo’s favorite child, and what did he often say about the child?His favorite child was Ezinma, daughter of Ekwefi. He often said it was a shame she wasn’ta boy.3. What unacceptable thing did Okonkwo do just before the Feast of the New Yam?He beat his second wife, Ekwefi, then fired his gun at her.4. Who was Chielo, and why was she important?She was the priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves.5. What sport did the villagers enjoy watching during their feasting?They enjoyed watching the young men of the village wrestle.6. What influence did Ikemefuna have on Nwoye?Ikemefuna acted as an elder brother. He made Nwoye feel grown up. Nwoye began actingmore like a man.7. How did Okonkwo feel about Ikemefuna’s influence on Nwoye?He was inwardly pleased, although he would not show it. He did, however, invite the boysto sit with him and told them stories of the land.8. How did the villagers feel about the coming of the locusts, and what did they do about it?They were delighted to have the locusts. They caught as many a possible, roasted them, andate them as a delicacy.9. What did the village decide to do with Ikemefuna?The oracle decided that the villagers should kill him.18Short Answer Study Questions-Things Fall Apart, p. 610. Who struck the last blow to Ikemefuna, and why?Okonkwo did, because he was afraid of being thought weak.Chapters 8-101. What did Okonkwo do whenever he thought of his father’s weakness and failure?He thought of his own strength and success.2. What did Okonkwo tell himself about his part in Ikemefuna’s death?He said he was becoming a woman. A man who had killed five men in battle should not fallto pieces over the death of a boy.3. What did Obierika tell Okonkwo about his part in Ikemefuna’s death?Obierika said it was the kind of action that would not please the Earth; that the goddesswould wipe out an entire family for such an action.4. Describe the meeting to determine Obierika’s daughter’s bride price.The suitor, Ibe, his father, Ukegbu, and uncle met with Obierika, his brothers, his son, andOkonkwo. They ate kola nuts and drank palm wine. Then Obierika gave Ukegbu a bundleof thirty short broomsticks. Ukegbu and his clan took the sticks outside. When they returnedthey gave a bundle of fifteen sticks to Obierika. He added ten more sticks and gave the bundleback. The two groups finally agreed at a bride-price of twenty bags of cowries.5. The men began discussing rumors about white men. Who did they think the white men were?The polite word for leprosy was “the white skin.” The men in the hut thought the white menwere lepers.6. Describe the relationship between Ekwefi and Ezinma.It was more like the companionship of equals, rather than that of mother and daughter.7. Describe Ekwefi’s difficulties in getting pregnant.She had borne ten children, but nine of them had died in infancy. She began giving themnames like “Death, I implore you” and “May it not happen again.”8. What did the medicine man tell Okonkwo after the death of Ekwefi’s second child?He said there was an ogbanje, a wicked child who, when it died, re-entered its mother’swomb to be born again. He said Ekwefi should go and stay with her people when she becamepregnant again.19Short Answer Study Questions-Things Fall Apart, p. 79. Describe the burial of Ekwefi’s third child, and the reason for it.The medicine man ordered that there be no mourning or funeral. He mutilated the dead childand buried it in the Evil forest. He said this would make the ogbanje think about comingagain.10. Explain the significance of Ezinma’s iyi-uwa.This was a special kind of stone that formed the link between an ogbanje and the spirit world.If it were discovered, then the child would not die. When Okagbue found Ezinma’s iyi-uwa,the people knew Ezinma’s troubles were over.Chapters 8-10 continued11. How did Okonkwo cure Ezinma’s iba illness?He brewed a potion made of leaves and herbs, then put her over the steam.12. What was the purpose of the ceremony described in Chapter 10?A woman’s birth family was having a dispute with her husband because he was mistreatingher. The only decision the man would accept in the case was that of the symbolic meetingof the clan spirits.Chapters 11-131. What did Chielo want with Ezinma?Chielo wanted to take Ezinma to see Agbala.2. What did Ekwefi do?She followed Chielo and Ezinma to the cave of Agbala.3. What did Okonkwo do when Chielo took Ezinma?He followed her, too, with his machete.4. What was the purpose of the uri ceremony?The family of the suitor was bringing palm-wine to Obierika and his extensive group ofkinsmen.5. What was the significance in the amount of wine the family brought?They were thought to be behaving like men if they brought a generous amount.6. What happened at the end of the ceremony?The bride-to-be went to live with her suitor’s family for seven market weeks.20Short Answer Study Questions-Things Fall Apart, p. 87. Describe Ezeudu’s funeral.He was the clan elder, so there was a great ceremony. There was a lot of shouting, drumbeating, and firing of guns.8. How did the author describe a man’s life?A man’s life was a series of transition rites which brought him closer to death and hisancestors.9. What happened during the frenzy?Okonkwo accidentally shot a boy.10. What was the result of Okonkwo’s action?He and his family were forced to leave the clan for seven years. The men from Ezeudu’squarter demolished Okonkwo’s houses and barn, and killed his animals.11. What was the reason for the clan’s actions against Okonkwo?They were cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted. It was not revenge.12. What did Obierika think about after this calamity, and what was his conclusion?He wondered why a man should suffer because of an inadvertent mistake. He also wonderedwhy he had to throw away his wife’s twins when they were born. He concluded that the clanhad to punish offenses so that the Earth would not loose her wrath on all the land, instead ofjust on the offender.