The family moved to Montgomery; Rosa went to school and became a seamstress. She married barber Raymond Parks in 1932, and the couple joined the Montgomery National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). When she inspired the bus boycott, Parks had been the secretary of the local NAACP for twelve years (1943-1956). In 1943 Rosa Parks became a member of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and she served as its secretary until 1956. Montgomery bus boycott Rosa Parks occupies an iconic status in the civil rights movement after she refused to vacate a seat on a bus in favor of a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1955, Parks rejected a bus driver's order to leave a row of four seats in the "colored" section once the white section had filled up and move to the back of the bus. 1948: Parks becomes the Alabama state secretary for the NAACP. 1949: Parks steps back as NAACP secretary to take care of her mother. 1952: Parks returns to the Montgomery NAACP and once more Rosa Parks was a leader in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the NAACP in Alabama. She refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in 1955 and inspired a social movement for racial justice. The family moved to Montgomery; Rosa went to school and became a seamstress. She married barber Raymond Parks in 1932, and the couple joined the Montgomery National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). When she inspired the bus boycott, Parks had been the secretary of the local NAACP for twelve years (1943-1956). Rosa Joins the NAACP’s Montgomery Branch. In 1943 Rosa Parks joined the Montgomery NAACP and became its secretary, reuniting with her former classmate Johnnie Carr. With E. D. Nixon, she investigated cases involving police brutality, rape, murder, and discrimination. In 1946 the Montgomery NAACP defended the paroled Scottsboro Boy Andy Wright Rosa Parks was a local NAACP secretary in Montgomery, Alabama, who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in 1955. Her act of defiance sparked the Montgomery bus boycott, a landmark movement to end racial segregation in public transportation. In the 1940s, Rosa became active in the NAACP too, leading the youth division of the Montgomery branch and serving as secretary. In September 1944, the rape case of Recy Taylor galvanized Alabama Rosa Parks. In 1943, Rosa Parks was appointed as Secretary of the Montgomery Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Born: February 4,1913. Departed: October 24, 2005 Rosa's Activism Begins with the NAACP. Rosa Parks' involvement in civil rights activism began to take shape when she joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1943. As part of the Montgomery chapter, Parks served as both the youth leader and secretary to E.D. Nixon, the president of the chapter. “Such a good job of brain washing was done on the Negro that a militant Negro was almost a freak of nature to them, many times ridiculed by others of his own group.” —Rosa Parks Raymond became a member of the Montgomery NAACP in 1934, though in time he would grow disillusioned with the organization’s Born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Ala., Rosa Louise McCauley eventually moved to Montgomery where she married Raymond Parks, a barber who was deeply involved in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1943, Rosa Parks was elected secretary of the NAACP’s Montgomery chapter, setting in motion her lifelong 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 Minutes, Montgomery NAACP, 1955 Recorded by NAACP Secretary Rosa Parks [These pages show minutes from Montgomery Alabama NAACP meetings as recorded by NAACP Secretary Rosa Parks. The original documents are handwritten and shown here in PDF format. A decade later Parks joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and later became secretary for its Montgomery chapter. On December 1, 1955, returning home from work on a city bus, Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger, as required by law. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks sparked a revolution by simply refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her quiet defiance became a thunderous call for equality, marking a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. Why Rosa Parks Matters. Rosa Parks wasn’t just an ordinary person; she was a symbol of resilience and bravery. Perhaps the incident was not as spontaneous as it appeared, however. Parks was an active participant in the civil rights movement for several years and had served as secretary of both the Montgomery and Alabama state NAACP. She founded the youth council of the local NAACP and trained the young people in civil rights activism. 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. Good evening, distinguished guests. Rosa Parks’s name echoes through history as a symbol of courage and determination. Yet her contribution to civil rights and social justice extends far beyond that famous December day in Montgomery. Before her arrest, Mrs. Parks worked as secretary of the local NAACP chapter.
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