The most prominent location at Burr Oak, immediately inside the southeast entrance, is occupied by the crypt of Mamie Till-Mobley (1921-2003), mother of Emmett Till.

"Open it up. Let the people see what they did to my boy."

After her son's murder, Mrs. Till became a crusader for civil rights and a teacher for the Chicago Public Schools. She founded the Emmett Till Foundation and the Emmett Till Players, a youth theater group. In her last years, she also fought against the death penalty in Illinois, seing it as "legal lynching".

Mrs. Till-Mobley co-wrote the book Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America, published posthumously in 2003.

(As my visit to Burr Oak was only a few months after Mrs. Till-Mobley's death, her name was not yet on the mausoleum. Since then, a bronze plaque listing her name and accomplishments has been installed).