M is for Mississippi and Murder: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Printed and illustrated seven-page pamphlet created by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to bring attention to the violence and murder erupting in Mississippi starting in 1954 to the fall of 1955. The front cover of the pamphlet has the title featuring three large, upper case M's formatted vertically with the center M in red while the top and bottom M's are grey. There are eight (8) pages total. The interior pages have text titled "Backdrop for Murder" and accented with three bright red checkmarks in front of sections on pages 4 and 5 that list the murder victims Rev. George W. Lee, Lamar Smith, and Emmett Till. The back of the pamphlet has a line drawn map of the delta region of Mississippi. Red dots mark locations where violent events have occurred in the state.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: November 1955
• Created by: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, American, founded 1909
• Subject of: Rev. George W. Lee, American, 1903 - 1955
• Subject of: Lamar "Ditney" Smith, American, 1892 - 1955
• Subject of: Emmett Till, American, 1941 - 1955
• Type: pamphlets
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W: 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (21.6 x 14 cm)
• Place depicted: Mississippi, United States, North and Central America
• Place printed: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Violence
• Object number: 2012.46.34.25
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No known copyright restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.