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 “During the Montgomery bus boycott, we came together and remained unified for 381 days. It has never been done again. The Montgomery boycott became the model for human rights throughout the world.” When Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man, she was mentally prepared for the moment. 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 Rosa Parks (1913-2005) helped start the civil rights movement in the United States in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. Rosa Parks’s actions inspired leaders of the Black community to organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Dr. Martin Luther King led the Montgomery Bus Rosa Parks: Bus Boycott, Civil Rights & Facts Read More » In the 1940s and early ‘50s, several black Montgomerians – including Rosa Parks herself – had run-ins with bus drivers over segregation rules. Some were arrested, others evicted by force. In 1953, a handful of black leaders, led by veteran activist E.D. Nixon, met with city officials to demand better treatment on the buses, but little In Montgomery, Alabama on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks is jailed for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man, a violation of the city’s racial segregation laws. December 1, 1955, was the day on which Rosa Parks took her famous bus ride. Below you will read some of the rules bus riders followed at that time: White people boarded the bus through the front door. They dropped their coins into the fare box next to the driver. Rosa Parks Changed the Rules work sheet, one copy per student (provided) Lesson Plan In this activity, students listen to or read a selection describing the events of December 1, 1955. Then they read the rules that people had to follow on the bus. They label an illustration of the bus to reflect those rules. Read aloud to students a book about Rosa Parks’ Defiance. Rosa Parks stood up against unfair racial separation by not giving up her seat on a bus to a white person on December 1, 1955. This act was a key moment in the fight against racial discrimination and helped start the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Parks worked as a dressmaker and also helped the NAACP. African-Americans had wilfully violated the segregation of public transport before Rosa Parks, even in her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, where 15-year-old Claudette Colvin was arrested nine months earlier for the same crime of refusing to give up her bus seat. Yet it was Parks’ now immortalised Rosa Parks’ brave act of not giving up her seat on a bus to a white person challenged the rules that separated black and white people. This led to a big court case, and the judges decided that these separation laws were not allowed by the Constitution. After 1956, Rosa Parks could sit wherever she wanted on the bus Image: UIG/IMAGO The experience also shaped King, who became the chairman of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil 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. Rosa Parks Rosa Parks was a black woman, who played an important part in the American Civil Rights movement. She made changes to try to make life fair for black and white people in America. Early Life Rosa Parks was born on 4th February, 1913 and grew up on a farm with her mother, brother and grandparents in a place called Montgomery in the USA. When Rosa passed away on October 24, 2005, at the age of 92, people around the world mourned her loss. Her body lay in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, an honor reserved for only a few great Americans. Why Rosa Parks Matters. Rosa Parks’ story is a reminder that courage doesn’t always come with loud speeches or grand gestures. 02/03/2025 February 3, 2025. She stood up for her rights by staying seated. In the 1950s, Rosa Parks gave the US Civil Rights Movement a huge boost, and inspired Martin Luther King Jr. Rosa Parks launched the Montgomery bus boycott when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. The boycott proved to be one of the pivotal moments of the emerging civil rights movement. For 13 months, starting in December 1955, the black citizens of Montgomery protested nonviolently with the goal of desegregating the city’s public buses. Sparking a Social Transformation. It’s one of the most famous moments in modern American civil rights history: On the chilly evening of December 1, 1955, at a bus stop on a busy street in the capital of Alabama, a 42-year-old seamstress boarded a segregated city bus to return home after a long day of work, taking a seat near the middle, just behind the front “white” section. Black people had to board the bus through the front door to pay the driver, but then had to get off again and walk to the rear of the vehicle before getting back on. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, who worked as a seamstress in a department store in Montgomery, Alabama, boarded a city bus after work and took a seat. This an undated photo shows Rosa Parks riding on the Montgomery Area Transit System bus. Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus on Dec. 1, 1955, and ignited the boycott that led to a federal court ruling against segregation in public transportation.
Articles and news, personal stories, interviews with experts.
Photos from events, contest for the best costume, videos from master classes.
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |