Telegram to Attorney General Herbert Brownell Jr. Requesting a Federal Investigation of the Emmett Till Case (1955)

Date: September 28, 1955

Created By: Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

Original or Replica: Original

Era: Civil Rights, The Presidency

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE’s Records as President, Alphabetical File, Box 3113, Emmett Till; NAID #12196988

This document is a night letter telegram sent by A. Philip Randolph, President of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, to Attorney General Herbert Brownell Jr. on September 28, 1955, following the acquittal of the men charged with the murder of Emmett Till. In the telegram, Randolph urges the Department of Justice to immediately launch an FBI investigation into the whereabouts of two potential witnesses whom he believed possessed information that could assist federal authorities in investigating the case.

Randolph explains that his request was based on information provided by a source who attended the Emmett Till murder trial and claimed that individuals in Mississippi had evidence relevant to the federal government but were willing to cooperate only with the U.S. Department of Justice. He further notes that more than 15,000 citizens representing a broad coalition of labor, civic, religious, and community organizations had recently adopted a resolution calling for prompt federal intervention during a mass rally in New York City organized by the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.