Rosa Parks (born February 4, 1913, Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S.—died October 24, 2005, Detroit, Michigan) was an American civil rights activist whose refusal to relinquish her seat on a public bus precipitated the 1955–56 Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama, which became the spark that ignited the civil rights movement in the United States. Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913, to Leona (née Edwards), a teacher, and James McCauley, a carpenter.In addition to African ancestry, one of Parks's great-grandfathers was Scots-Irish, and one of her great-grandmothers was a part–Native American slave. Who is Rosa Parks? Rosa Parks, born Rosa Louise McCauley on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama, is celebrated as a pivotal figure in the American civil rights movement. Her most notable act of defiance occurred on December 1, 1955, when she refused to yield her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. In Her Own Words. 16 Rosa Parks Quotes About Civil Rights She lost her department store job, and her husband was fired from his barber job at Maxwell Air Force Base after his boss forbade him Her actions were not without consequence. She was jailed for refusing to give up her seat and lost her job for participating in the boycott. After the boycott, Parks and her husband moved to Hampton, Virginia and later permanently settled in Detroit, Michigan. Parks work proved to be invaluable in Detroit’s Civil Rights Movement. What happened to Rosa Parks after the boycott? During the bus boycott, Rosa lost her job and faced severe harassment, including death threats. Things didn’t improve after the boycott’s success, so in 1957, Rosa, her husband, and her mother moved to Detroit, Michigan. 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 January 7, 1956: Parks is let go from her job as a tailor's assistant at the Montgomery Fair department store. 1992: Rosa Parks: My Story, an autobiography for younger readers, is published. In addition to her arrest, Parks lost her job as a seamstress at a local department store. Her husband Raymond lost his job as a barber at a local air force base after his boss forbade him to talk about the legal case. Parks and her husband left Montgomery in 1957 to find work, first traveling to Virginia and later to Detroit, Michigan. The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute Of Self-Development was established in 1987 to offer job training for black youth. In 1999, Parks received the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, the highest honor a civilian can receive in the United States. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) also sponsors an annual Rosa Parks Freedom Award. In December 1955, Rosa Parks' refusal as a Black woman to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sparked a citywide bus boycott. That protest came to a successful conclusion But Rosa Parks also witnessed the possibility of life with fewer racial restrictions during her time at Maxwell Airfield. Rosa and Raymond began working at the installation in 1941; Rosa secured a job as a seamstress at the Field Guest House, and Raymond became a barber. Biographer Jeanne Theoharis, professor of political science at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, describes in this article written for the Library of Congress Magazine, vol. 4 no. 2 (March-April 2015):16-18, the recently acquired Rosa Parks Papers and how they shed new light on Parks and her activism. A Michigan public act established Rosa Parks Day, celebrated on the first Monday following her February 4 birthday. Rosa Parks was 92 years old when she died in her Detroit home on October 24, 2005. The front seats of city buses in Detroit and Montgomery were adorned with black ribbons in the days preceding her funeral. Showcases rarely seen materials that offer an intimate view of Rosa Parks and documents her life and activism—creating a rich opportunity for viewers to discover new dimensions to their understanding of this seminal figure. The materials are drawn extensively from the Rosa Parks Collection, a gift to the Library of Congress from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, overcame personal and financial hardships as a result of defying Southern U.S. segregation laws by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. She was jailed for her defiance and was soon released. She lost her job as a seamstress when her case garnered publicity, but she rose to become a Civil Rights icon. After her arrest, Rosa Parks became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement, but suffered hardships as a result. She lost her job, and her husband quit his job after his boss forbade him from talking about his wife or the legal case. Parks traveled and spoke extensively. Rosa Parks (center, in dark coat and hat) rides a bus at the end of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Montgomery, Alabama, Dec. 26, 1956. Don Cravens/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images. Most of us know Rosa Parks as the African American woman who quietly, but firmly, refused to give up her bus seat to a white person Dec. 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama. That small act of Why Rosa Parks Matters. Rosa Parks’ story is a reminder that courage doesn’t always come with loud speeches or grand gestures. Sometimes, it’s as simple as saying, “No, this is not right.” Her quiet strength showed the world that change starts when ordinary people take a stand. 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. The United States Congress has honored her as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement". Parks became an NAACP activist in 1943, participating in several high-profile civil rights
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