By Hillel Italie

AP National Writer

NEW YORK

The woman at the center of the trial of Emmett Till’s alleged killers has acknowledged that she falsely testified he made physical and verbal threats, according to a new book.

Historian Timothy B. Tyson told The Associated Press that Carolyn Donham broke her long public silence in an interview with him in 2008. His book, “The Blood of Emmett Till,” was published Jan. 31.

“She told me that ‘Nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him,’” said Mr. Tyson, a Duke University research scholar whose previous books include “Blood Done Sign My Name” and “Radio Free Dixie.”

Emmett Till was just 14 years old when he was tortured and killed in 1955 in Mississippi after allegedly whistling at a white woman, Ms. Donham. His murder became national news and was a galvanizing event in the Civil Rights Movement. It also has been the subject of numerous books and movies.

During the trial, Ms. Donham said that he had grabbed her, and, in profane terms, bragged about his history with white women. The jury was not present when she testified.

Ms. Donham’s then-husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, were acquitted by the all-white jury. Both men, who later told Look magazine they murdered Emmett, have since died. Mr. Milam’s widow, Juanita Milam, would later tell the FBI she believed that Ms. Donham had fabricated her story. Juanita Milam died in 2014.

The Justice Department re-examined the case a decade ago, but no one was indicted as a murderer or an accomplice.

Last month, the maker of a documentary on Emmett said he had long been sure that Ms. Donham’s story was false.

“His mother had mentioned that Emmett had a speech impediment and that the things Bryant claimed he was saying he could not have said easily,” said Keith Beauchamp, whose “The Untold Story of Emmett Till” came out in 2005.

Mr. Tyson said that he spoke with Ms. Donham after her daughter-in-law, Marsha Bryant, contacted him. Marsha Bryant had read “Blood Done Sign My Name,” about a racist murder during his childhood in Oxford, N.C., and invited Mr. Tyson to meet with her and Ms. Donham.

Mr. Tyson said he and Ms. Donham had two conversations, both lasting two to three hours, and that he planned at the time to place the material in the archives at the University of North Carolina. Asked why he waited so long to publicize his findings, he responded that historians think in different terms than journalists.

“I’m more interested in what speaks to the ages than in what is the latest media thing,” he said.

He added that he wasn’t sure whether Ms. Donham knew about the book. He said he had fallen out of touch with the family and that when he last spoke with Marsha Bryant, a few years ago, she said Ms. Donham was in poor health.

Emmett was a fun-loving teenager from Chicago visiting the Mississippi Delta and helping out on his great-uncle Mose Wright’s farm. On Aug. 24, 1955, Emmet and some other kids drove to a local store, Bryant’s, for refreshments. At Bryant’s, some of the kids stayed on the porch, watching a game of checkers, while the others filed inside to buy bubblegum and sodas.

Then Carolyn Bryant, the 21-year-old wife of proprietor Roy Bryant, was behind the counter.

Accounts of what happened next differ.

She claimed Emmett bragged about dating white women up North. She said he grabbed her and asked her, “How about a date, baby?”

Simeon Wright, Emmett’s cousin, heard none of this. But there is no doubt about what he heard when they left the store, he told the AP in 2005.

Standing on the front porch, Emmett let out a wolf whistle.

Carolyn Donham’s whereabouts have long been a mystery, but North Carolina voter rolls list a Carolyn Holloway Donham. Holloway is her maiden name.

The address is for a green, split-level home in Raleigh at the mouth of a neat cul-de-sac just two turns off a busy four-lane thoroughfare. The well-tended house has burnt-orange shutters and a front-facing brick chimney decorated with a large metal sunburst. Orange flags emblazed with the word “Google” dot the lawn.

A woman, who appeared to be of late middle age, and a small barking dog appeared at the front door. When a reporter asked if this was the Bryant family home, the woman replied, “Yes.”

When asked if Carolyn Donham was at home, the woman replied, “She’s not available.”

At first, she refused to accept a business card, but relented after hearing about Mr. Tyson’s book.

The Emmett Till Legacy Foundation has shared news reports about the book on Instagram and asked if Ms. Donham would have the “decency and courage” to speak with Mr. Till’s relatives.

AP National Writer Allen Breed contributed to this report from North Carolina.