Chicago Landmark Plaque Added To Childhood Home Of Emmett Till

CHICAGO (CBS) -- On what would have been Civil Rights icon Emmett Till's 80th birthday, his childhood home in Chicago's West Woodlawn neighborhood got a historic landmark plaque Sunday.

City officials on Sunday presented the plaque outside the home at 64th Street and St. Lawrence Avenue.

The plaque recognizes Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, as key figures in Great Migration history.

Till was just 14 years old when he was kidnapped, beaten, and lynched after being accused of whistling at a white woman while visiting Money, Mississippi in 1955.

It was the days and years that would follow that served as a catalyst in the civil rights movement.

Earlier this year, the home where Till grew up in officially became a city landmark.

The nonprofit Blacks in Green recently bought the house. The organization plans to convert the home into a museum and community theater.

The murdered teenager is buried alongside mother Mamie Till and her husband Gene Mobley.

Earlier this year, congressmen introduced legislation to award Emmett Till and his mother with the Congressional Gold Medal and honor Mamie Till-Mobley with a commemorative postage stamp.