I Am More Than a Wolf Whistle
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 | |
| Author | Carolyn Bryant Donham |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Lynching of Emmett Till |
| Genre | Memoir |
Publication date | 2022 (leaked) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 99 |
I Am More than a Wolf Whistle: The Story of Carolyn Bryant Donham is a memoir by Carolyn Bryant Donham, the white woman who accused the African American 14-year-old Emmett Till of grabbing her hand and waist while making unwanted sexual advances towards her at her store in 1955, an incident which led to his lynching. Written before 2008, the manuscript was originally planned for a posthumous release in 2036 but was leaked by historian Timothy Tyson and released to the public in July 2022.
Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American resident of Chicago, visited relatives in Mississippi in 1955. He visited a grocery store in Money, Mississippi called Bryant's Grocery, which was owned by Donham and her husband Roy Bryant, both of whom were White. Till allegedly interacted with Donham in some way, though accounts of the events differ. After hearing about the interaction, Donham's husband Roy and Roy's half-brother John William "J. W." Milam kidnapped, tortured, and lynched Till.
The book was dictated by Donham to her daughter-in-law Marsha Bryant, who transcribed the recollections.[1] The manuscript is also dedicated to Marsha.[2] The public first learned of the book when historian Timothy Tyson interviewed Donham in 2008. Donham made an agreement with Tyson during the interview process that the book would not be released until 2036. She gave a copy of the book to Tyson, who in turn gave it to the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina, where it was held in their archives. Till's cousin and civil rights activist Deborah Watts called for the release of the manuscript in 2021 in an op-ed for USA Today, hoping its release would lead to Donham's indictment.[3]
In July 2022, an unserved arrest warrant for Donham was found by the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation in a Mississippi County Courthouse basement. The discovery led to renewed calls for her arrest, which gained traction and coverage. Tyson released a copy of the manuscript to the FBI and subsequently to newspaper outlets, saying "The potential for an investigation was more important than the archival agreements, though those are important things. But this is probably the last chance for an indictment in this case."[4] After the release of the manuscript, Tyson said he has not spoken to Donham since the interview in 2008.[5] Donham was 88 years old at the time of the book's release. Journalist Stacey Patton from NewsOne, a division of Urban One, first broke the story of the manuscript, which quickly spread; PDFs were subsequently posted online.[1]
Content
The 99-page manuscript focuses on two main aspects of Donham's life. The first third of the book focuses on her early life in the South, including her childhood being raised on the Archer Plantation outside of Cruger, Mississippi.[1] Donham recalls her "hired help" Annie Freeman, whom she said she loved, recounting Freeman had skin "the color of hot chocolate".[1] The recollections continue with Donham's boyfriend at the time showing her a "hanging tree", which Donham remembered would be a "terrific tree to climb" if she were a tomboy.[1] The last two-thirds of the book focus on the interaction, aftermath, trial, and subsequent developments of the Till events.[1] The book ends with the paragraph:
I always felt like a victim as well as Emmett. He came in our store and put his hands on me with no provocation. Do I think he should have been killed for doing that? Absolutely, unequivocally, no! Did we both pay a price for it, yes, we did. He paid dearly with the loss [of] his life. I paid dearly with an altered life.[1]