It’s the story of the Rosa Parks bus—bus number 2857. The story of how the bus got from a factory in Pontiac, Michigan, to the streets of Montgomery, Alabama, to a mechanic’s field outside of Montgomery, and finally to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, has some surprising twists and turns. The bus identification number was not recorded in any official documents when Rosa Parks was arrested, so years later, many museums and organizations were searching for the bus, but no one was quite sure which bus it was. When bus #2857 was retired in the early 1970s, Roy H. Summerford of Montgomery bought it. Historic markers designate the site where Rosa Parks boarded the public bus and where she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger and move to the back. The Rosa Parks Museum, located at the site of Parks’ famous arrest, is centered on Parks’ story and its place in the Civil Rights Movement and features a restored Montgomery bus station manager Charles H. Cummings had maintained a scrapbook of newspaper articles during the 1955–56 Montgomery bus boycott. Next to articles describing the arrest of Rosa Parks, he wrote "#2857" and "Blake/#2857." James Blake was the bus driver who had Rosa Parks arrested. – The bus on which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat is a symbol of her defiance that changed the course of history in America. That bus was once in ruins, but now it sits at the Henry Ford On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on this bus and was arrested for violating segregation law. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted for 381 days until segregation on public buses was repealed. Parks’ stance and the boycott were important events that raised awareness for the civil rights movement. Rosa Parks' Bus . In 1955, African Americans were still required by a Montgomery, Alabama, city ordinance to sit in the back half of city buses and to yield their seats to white riders if the One would not ordinarily consider a city bus to be iconic. But an extraordinary event occurred on this Montgomery, Alabama, bus on December 1, 1955. Inside this bus on that day, a soft-spoken African-American seamstress named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man, as dictated by existing segregation laws. On this evening, Rosa Parks was seated in the middle area of the bus. Four white passengers boarded the bus and as it was full on this occasion, four coloured passengers from this section, Rosa included were asked to move. Three coloured passenegers vacated their seats. Rosa did not. She had had enough of the ‘separate but equal’ idea. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Louis McCauley Parks was arrested on this site for refusing the order of city bus driver J. F. Blake to vacate her seat under the segregation laws of the Jim Crow era. (A historical marker located in Montgomery in Montgomery County, Alabama.) A Laketran rider sitting next to the seat marked reserved in honor of Rosa Parks. Throughout the week of Feb. 3, 2025, the first seat on Laketran and Geauga Transit buses will be reserved for a The National City Lines bus, No. 2857, on which Rosa Parks rode before she was arrested (a GM "old-look" transit bus, serial number 1132), is now on exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum. On the night of Parks' arrest, the Women's Political Council , led by Jo Ann Robinson , printed and circulated a flyer throughout Montgomery's black community that Rosa Parks (1913—2005) helped initiate the civil rights movement in the United States when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955. Her actions Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement, best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. Inside this bus on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a soft-spoken African-American seamstress, refused to give up her seat to a white man, breaking existing segregation laws. The flawless character and quiet strength she exhibited successfully ignited action in others. For this, many believe Rosa Parks's act was the event that sparked the Civil Rights movement. The Montgomery city bus aboard which Rosa Parks defied segregation sat as a rusted storage shed before The Henry Ford acquired it in 2001. Today, the fully restored bus in Henry Ford Museum stands as an inspiring reminder of her courageous activism. The most sought after historical bus is this TDH3610 transit bus built by General Motors in 1948. It was lucky enough to be the bus that Rosa Parks boarded in 1955 which transported her into the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement. This photo was taken in 2001 at the Henr y Ford Museum. HENRY FORD MUSEUM. The Rosa Parks Bus by Larry Plachno A Laketran rider sitting next to the seat marked reserved in honor of Rosa Parks. Throughout the week of Feb. 3, 2025, the first seat on Laketran and Geauga Transit buses will be reserved for a tribute commemorating Parks' commitment to public transit equity, and impact on the modern Civil Rights Movement. Rosa M. Parks (1913-2005) was arrested on a Montgomery bus December 1, 1955 for refusing to relinquish her seat to a white passenger. Her arrest, which happened 2 blocks west on Montgomery Street, sparked the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was led by the Montgomery Improvement Association and culminated in 1956 with Browder v. Inside this bus on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a soft-spoken African-American seamstress, refused to give up her seat to a white man, challenging existing segregation laws. Many believe Rosa Parks' act was the event that sparked the civil rights movement.
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