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LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE A. Geographic/Societal Points of Interest: The geographic areas of importance in this investigation center on the Mississippi counties of Leflore, Sunflower, and Tallahatchie. Tili was kidnaped in Leflore County, taken by force to Sunflower County, his body was discovered on the border of Tallahatchie and Leflore Counties, and the trial of Milam and Bryant occurred in Tallahatchie County. These three counties are all situated, in whole or in part, within the Mississippi Delta area. In 1955 these counties were populated by a majority of black citizens and were mainly comprised of vast plantations which were sharecropped by black tenant farmers. The exception was the "Hill" area of Tallahatchie County, the easternmost portion of the county, which was comprised of much smaller farms and where sharecropping was rare. M2 1. Leftore County: Leflore County, like neighboring Tallahatchie and Sunflower Counties, is now, and was in 1955, a primarily agrarian county. It is comprised of 606 square miles, the majority of which are farmed. Greenwood is the county seat and the municipality of the greatest population. In 1950 Greenwood had a total population of 18,061 persons, with approximately fifty percent of the population being black. The median per capita income was $1,891. In 1950 Leflore County had a population of 51,813, with sixty-eight percent of the population being non-white, of which 17,893 were of voting age and 297 were registered to vote. Forty-three percent of the working population was engaged in agricultural work and 4.7 percent of the working population was employed in manufacturing jobs. The median annual per capita income was $918, with the average ' Hugh Steven Whitaker, “A Case Study in Southern Justice — The Emmett Till Case”, (Master’s Thesis, Florida State University, 1963), 17 to 18 ? United States Commission on Civil Rights, Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights 195 9, §9 10 LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. [tis the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not 10 be distributed outside your agency. a et