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. Let’s reflect on some key Rosa Parks facts that highlight her remarkable life and contributions. Important Rosa Parks Facts Rosa Parks was born in 1913. Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. Source: Library of Congress. Rosa Parks’ grandparents were former slaves. She came from a family of strong advocates for racial equality. Rosa loved to learn and studied hard at high school. But, sadly, she had to leave school at 16 to care for her dying grandmother and, shortly after, her very sick mother. When she was 19 years old, Rosa married a barber called Raymond Parks, who encouraged her to return to high school to earn her diploma (an education certificate). And that’s Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913. On December 1, 1955, she boarded a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama and sat in the middle, where Black passengers in that city were allowed to sit unless a white person wanted the seat. As the bus filled with new riders, the driver told Parks to give up her seat to a white passenger. She refused. In 1987, she co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development, promoting youth education and leadership, ensuring that her legacy as a champion for civil rights continued to inspire future generations. Personal Life: Married Life | Husband. Rosa Parks met Raymond Parks in 1932 when she was just 19 years old, and they soon 19 Rosa Parks Legacy Facts: Complete Biography Guide. The name Rosa Parks is synonymous with courage and defiance in the face of oppression. Her act of refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white person on December 1, 1955, sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement. Who was Rosa Parks? Meet the woman who changed the course of history Oct. 24, 2005. She was 92-years-old. Photograph by Paul Sancya, AP. By Erin Blakemore. February 3, 2025. The middle-aged Interesting Facts about Rosa Parks Parks on a Montgomery bus on December 21, 1956, the day Montgomery's public transportation system was legally integrated Rosa earned her high school diploma at a time when less than 7% of African Americans earned them. April 14, 2005: Parks and the hip-hop group Outkast reach an out-of-court settlement regarding their 1998 song "Rosa Parks." October 24, 2005: Parks dies at the age of 92 In 1998, the hip-hop group Outkast released a song, “Rosa Parks,” which peaked at No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart the following year. The song featured the chorus: “Ah-ha, hush Here are a few Rosa Parks facts you may not know: When Rosa refused to give up her seat, it wasn’t the first time she’d faced down driver James Blake. 12 years before, she had left his bus rather than getting off and entering again through the back door after she’d paid at the front, another rule of bus segregation. December 1, 1955: Rosa Parks Is Arrested. On Thursday, December 1, 1955, the 42-year-old Rosa Parks was commuting home from a long day of work at the Montgomery Fair department store by bus. Black Rosa Parks Middle School 19200 Olney Mill Road, Olney, Maryland 20832. RPMS Registration Site- this site is used for registering for the 2025-2026 school year. Rosa Parks (1913-2005) is one of the most enduring symbols of the tumultuous civil rights era of the mid-twentieth century. Her 1955 arrest in Montgomery for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and set in motion a chain of events that resulted in ground-breaking civil [] 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 In 2000, Troy University created the Rosa Parks Museum, located at the site of her arrest in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. In 2001, the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, consecrated Rosa Parks Circle, a 3.5-acre park designed by Maya Lin, an artist and architect best known for designing the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, almost 50 years after the abolition of slavery and just over 50 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As her life unfolded at the crossroads of these defining moments in American history, she made a courageous decision on a Montgomery bus that brought the collective frustration of black Alabamans to 1. Parks was not the first African American woman to be arrested for refusing to yield her seat on a Montgomery bus. Nine months before Parks was jailed, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin was the first She was an active supporter of civil rights causes in her elder years. She died in October 2005, at the age of 92. Footnotes. Introduction, in Papers 3:3, 5. King, Stride Toward Freedom, 1958. Parks, Rosa Parks, 1992. Robinson, Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1987. What’s in the Rosa Parks Worksheet? This free printable Rosa Parks worksheet provides a fact-filled activity that encourages young people to explore the life of Rosa Louise McCauley Parks and her pivotal role in the civil rights movement. Kids can research all about this period of history and fill in their own biography of Rosa Parks.
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