Contact: Allison Matthews

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State student design work will be on display in the Delta town of Drew this weekend at an event memorializing Emmett Till.

On the 67th anniversary of Till’s lynching, a memorial service will be held this Sunday [Aug. 28] at We2gether Creating Change, 159 North Main Street, Drew, MS 38737. 

First-year architecture students participated this past spring semester in an ongoing partnership project with the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, developing design proposals for a memorial in his honor at the Seed Barn site, the location of his murder. The ETMC is attempting to commemorate this historic site and others. The exhibition is titled “Emmett Till Memorial Seed Barn Site: Racial reconciliation begins by telling the truth.” 

The student studio work was led by MSU School of Architecture faculty members Silvina Lopez Barrera, Duane McLemore and John Ross. MSU’s Center for Community-Engaged Learning also supported the work.

“This community-engaged learning project integrated field experiences including visits to historical sites related to Till’s history and an immersive experience with activists and community organizers,” said Lopez Barrera, who serves as studio coordinator. “The pedagogical approach emphasized the importance of the role of the architect in society as an agent for social change at the community level. Students’ design proposals were very diverse responding to the environmental conditions and the history of the site exploring how a memorial on this site could contribute to the future of racial reconciliation.”

For more about the School of Architecture in MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design, visit https://www.caad.msstate.edu/.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.