Carolyn Bryant Donham Biography
The name Carolyn Bryant Donham will always be associated with the murder of Emmett Till, one of the most terrible crimes in American history.
While visiting family in Mississippi in 1955, Emmett Till, a Black youngster from Chicago, was viciously attacked and killed by two white men.
An all-white jury found the men not guilty, but it was later discovered that Carolyn Bryant Donham, a white employee of a grocery store at the time, had falsely accused Till of making advances toward her.
Carolyn Bryant Donham Personal Life
The year 1934 saw Carolyn’s birth in Indianola, Mississippi. The city was well renowned for having a large number of segregationist and White nationalist Citizen’s Councils at the time. Her mother was a nurse and her father was a plantation manager. Carolyn left high school early. She married Roy Bryant, an ex-soldier from Manitoba who had won two beauty pageants, after winning them both.
Black sharecroppers and their children made up a large portion of Carolyn and Roy’s Bryant’s Grocery & Meat Market’s clientele. In the small town of Money, Mississippi, in the center of the cotton-growing Mississippi Delta, the store was situated at one end of the main street. They resided in two cramped rooms at the back of the shop with their two sons. After divorcing Roy, Carolyn went on to marry twice more. [1]
Carolyn Bryant is also the aunt of Phil Bryant, the current governor of Mississippi, according to Emmett Till’s distant relative Edelia Carthan.
The Impact of Carolyn Bryant Donham’s False Accusations
Emmett Till and his family were devastated by Carolyn Bryant Donham’s erroneous claims. Till’s body was dumped in a nearby river after being kidnapped from his uncle’s house in the middle of the night, brutally beaten, and shot. Mamie Till-Mobley, his mother, requested on an open casket service so that everyone might witness what her son had endured. The Civil Rights Movement was sparked by the shocking photographs of Emmett Till’s dismembered body.
The truth about Carolyn Bryant Donham’s involvement in Till’s murder came to light in 2008. Author of “The Blood of Emmett Till,” Timothy Tyson, conducted an interview with Donham, who acknowledged lying about Till’s conduct. She insisted that he had never approached her physically or verbally and that her claims stemmed only from the bigotry and paranoia that pervaded the Jim Crow South.
While Donham’s admission did not bring Emmett Till, whose life had already been taken, justice, it did provide his family some closure. Despite the fact that Mamie Till-Mobley had gone away years before, Deborah Watts, Till’s cousin, claimed that Donham’s statement made her feel at ease.
Carolyn Bryant Donham Age
She was born in 1934, so at the time of her death, she was 88 years old
Carolyn Bryant Donham Family
Roy Bryant was the name of her husband. She gave birth to two children, Lamar Bryant and Roy Bryant Jr.
Carolyn Bryant Donham Net Worth
Her net worth was unknown at the time of her passing.
Carolyn Bryant Donham Photos
Who is Carol Bryant’s husband?
Bryant, Roy
She was a high school dropout who married Roy Bryant, an ex-soldier, after winning two beauty pageants. The couple managed Bryant’s Grocery & Meat Market, a modest store where they sold supplies to black sharecroppers and their kids.
What did Carolyn Bryant Donham do?
The Calcasieu Parish coroner’s office verified to CNN that Carolyn Bryant Donham, a White lady whose accusation resulted in the 1955 lynching of Black youngster Emmett Till in Mississippi and whose role in the horrible death was recently reviewed by a grand jury, passed away in Louisiana.
How old was Carolyn Bryant in 1955?
She was a key participant in the 1955 murder that served as a catalyst for the civil rights movement and was the wife of one of Till’s confessed assassins. In 1955, Carolyn Bryant, a former beauty queen with ivory skin, prominent cheekbones, and piercing dark eyes, was 21 years old.
Where did Carolyn Bryant live?
According to the coroner for the Parish of Calcasieu in Louisiana, who verified the death to CBS News, Carolyn Bryant Donham, the White lady whose accusation sparked Emmett Till’s lynching, passed away on Tuesday. Coroner Terry Welke confirmed in a fact-of-death document that Donham, who resided in Westlake, Louisiana, passed away at 11:59 p.m. in her house.
What was Carolyn Bryant Donham charged with?
Grand jury in Mississippi decides not to indict Donham
She was not indicted on kidnapping and manslaughter charges by a Mississippi grand jury in August. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which President Joe Biden signed last year, was the result of more than a century of work to make lynching a federal hate crime.
How old was Carolyn Bryant when Emmett Till died?
She was the 21-year-old white proprietress of the business where Emmett allegedly made a sexually provocative comment to her, grabbed her roughly by the waist, and let out a wolf whistle, according to her evidence in the September 1955 trial of her husband and his half brother for the murder.
