Getty Joan Brody has been revealed as the white "girlfriend" of Emmett Till that was in a school picture with him.
In the decades since the murder of Emmett Tills, which served as a crucial turning point for the civil rights movement when his funeral photos shocked the world, people have speculated about his alleged “white girlfriend.”
Over six decades later, she claims to have been found, and she just gave her first ever interview.
Joan Brody was Till’s classmate. Here’s what you need to know.
1. Brody Sat Next to Till in Class & Is in a Picture With Till
In her interview with the Clarion Ledger, Brody confirmed that she sat next to Till in class, but didn’t realize the historical significance of her relationship to him. Brody’s friend, Carole Bass, who spoke to the Ledger too, said, “She just thought, ‘I sat next to him.'”
Perhaps most significantly, Brody is in a photo with Till and some other classmates. Till reportedly told his friends that Brody was his ‘girlfriend.’ Brody said upon finding this out, “That had to be me,” because she was the only white girl in his class.
2. Lewis-Champlain Elementary School Was Technically All-Black, Except for the Summer Months
The school that Till attended was technically an all-black school in Chicago, but during the summer, the Clarion Ledger reported that several white students, including Brody, went there to get extra credits.
Brody was 12 years old when she sat next to 13-year-old Till.
3. Brody Says Till Had ‘Beautiful Eyes’ & Remembers Getting into Trouble With Him
When Emmett Till showed a photo of his white classmates in Chicago and pointed to the white girl, joking that that was his “girlfriend.” Sixty-three years later, that girl, Joan Brody, is telling her story publicly for the first time.
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To The Clarion Ledger, Brody recalled Till’s “beautiful eyes” and recollected a memory in which she and Till were both “tugging on a belt,” and were smacked by their teacher for their defiance.
The last time Brody ever saw him was when the eighth graders all had to attend their August graduation ceremony, which is where the now infamous photo was taken. Brody said to the Clarion Ledger of the photo, “I had no interest in it.”
4. Till’s History With White Women Was a Crucial Part of His Subsequent Murder Trial
During the trial of Till’s killers, Carolyn Bryant, the white woman who testified that Till had wolf-whistled at her (she has since recanted her testimony), said that Till had grabbed her waist and told her he’d had sex with white women in the past.
Brody contested this allegation to the Clarion Ledger, saying, “He wasn’t a smart-alecky kid. He wasn’t a person to smart off to a white woman or any woman.”
5. Brody Has Since Said That Till ‘Could Have Been President’
When asked about the murder, Brody reportedly choked up and said that “nobody deserves what they did to him.”
She added, “He had his whole life ahead of him — to be gone just like that. And for what reason? He could have been president. He was just a nice kid with a nice smile.”