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. When she inspired the bus boycott, Parks had been the secretary of the local NAACP for twelve years (1943-1956). Parks founded the Montgomery NAACP Youth Council in the early 1940s. Later, as secretary of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, she traveled throughout the state interviewing victims of discrimination and witnesses to lynchings. 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. 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. Parks was a long-time member of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which she joined in 1943. During the 1970s and 1980s, Rosa received the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal, the UAW’s Social Justice Award, and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Nonviolent Peace Prize. In the 1990s, the Smithsonian unveiled a bust in her likeness. The Rosa Parks Peace Prize was established in Stockholm, Sweden. The Montgomery Bus Boycott. E.D. Nixon, the president of the NAACP’s Montgomery chapter, considered her arrest a “gift” to the movement. Rosa Parks was married, employed, enjoyed a reputation for good character, and, most notably to Nixon, was quiet, mature, and dignified. In 1932 she married Raymond Parks, a barber and member of the NAACP. At that time, Raymond Parks was active in the Scottsboro case. In 1943 Rosa Parks joined the local chapter of the NAACP and was elected secretary. Two years later, she registered to vote, after twice being denied. By 1949 Parks was advisor to the local NAACP Youth Council. A timeline covering the life of Rosa Parks, 1913-2005. Selected as secretary, NAACP Montgomery, Alabama, branch Became an advisor to the Youth Council of the In 1932, at age 19, Rosa met and married Raymond Parks, a barber and an active member of the NAACP as well as the League of Women Voters. The couple never had children, and their marriage lasted “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 The NAACP planned to then use its secretary, Rosa Parks, who was seen as more respectable and an "inherently impressive person," for the sitting-on-the-bus protest they'd use to call for the boycott. There is a video on the subject if you're interested, although if anyone has a more serious source I'd love to see it. 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: Well, the first meeting was not at the Baptist Church. The first meeting we had was at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Dr. Martin Luther King's church where he was pastoring. That was — on Friday evening. INTERVIEWER: I'M TALKING ABOUT THE BIG MEETING AT THE — Rosa Parks: Oh, the big meeting at the Holt Street Baptist Church. 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. Montgomery NAACP “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 On December 1, 1955, an attractive Negro seamstress, Mrs. Rosa Parks, boarded the Cleveland Avenue Bus in downtown Montgomery. She was returning home after her regular day's work in the Montgomery Fair - a leading department store. 1943 Selected as secretary, NAACP Montgomery, Ala., branch 1949 Became an advisor to the Youth Council of the NAACP Montgomery, Ala., branch 1955 Attended a workshop at the Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tenn., in August Parks was a seasoned freedom fighter who had grown up in a family that supported Marcus Garvey and who married an activist for the Scottsboro boys.She joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP in "Jeanne’s book not only inspired the documentary but has been a catalyst in changing our national understanding of Rosa Parks. Highly recommend!”—Soledad O’Brien, executive producer of the Peabody Award–winning documentary The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks"A must-read for young people.”—Bryan Stevenson, author of Just MercyNow adapted for readers ages 12 and up, the award
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