COMM student working with Prof. Houck discovers old newspapers with insights on Emmett Till murder case

Davis Houck and Jessica Primiani
Davis Houck and Jessica Primiani

FSU undergraduate student, Jessica Primiani, has discovered documents from an African-American newspaper (the St. Louis Argus) which were long missing and shed new insights about the Emmett Till murder case.  In 1955, Till, a 14-year-old black boy, was brutally killed after allegedly flirting with a white woman in Money, Mississippi.  This incident and his trial helped spur the civil rights movement.

Comm Student Jessica Primiani
Jessica Primiani

Primiani, a Communication and English double major, has been working on a direct study project with Davis Houck, School of Communication Professor and co-author of a book about the media’s coverage of the Till trial.  Her discovery of these newspaper archives has received national media coverage by the National Public Radio and a story by Jerry Mitchell, a prominent civil rights investigative reporter (with the Jackson Clarion Ledger).

Article written by: Davis Houck; Edited by: Natalie Kates