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. FILE - In this Nov. 28, 1999 file photo, Rosa Parks smiles during a ceremony where she received the Congressional Medal of Freedom in Detroit. A lawyer involved in a long-running dispute over the estate of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks claims that a judge allowed two other lawyers to pile up fees that ate away about two-thirds of the estate's Rosa Parks seated toward the front of the bus, Montgomery, Alabama, 1956. That's because a look into the ancestry of the civil rights pioneer reveals that her great-grandfather was Scottish. 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. Anderson was Rosa Parks’ grandfather. His wife was Louisa Collins, whose mother was a mixed-race slave. “Rosa’s mom, Leona was also a mix of African, white and Native American 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 her great-grandfathers was Scots-Irish and one of her great-grandmothers was a Native American slave. They set fire to Black homes, churches, and schools. Rosa’s grandfather had to board up the family’s windows so no one could break in. Rosa learned to be brave. When Rosa was 6, she went to the elementary school for Black children in Pine Level. Rosa and her classmates had to walk to school, no matter how far away they lived. Born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, AL, Rosa Parks was raised by her mother and grandparents in Pine Level, Alabama. Her grandfather supported the Garvey movement and, when Klan violence escalated after World War I, would sit out on the porch with his shotgun to protect the family home. A 6-year-old Rosa would sometimes sit vigil with him. 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. 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. Rosa Parks Exhibit At The Library Of Congress In D.C. The two wanted to be prepared, so her grandfather "always had his shotgun within hand's reach," Parks wrote when she was 6 or 7. "I wanted In 1980, following the deaths of her husband (1977), brother (1977) and mother (1979), Parks, along with The Detroit News, and the Detroit Public school system, founded the Rosa L. Parks Scholarship Foundation. Parks also co-founded, with Elaine Steele, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in 1987. 1 photograph : print ; sheet 25.3 x 20.1 cm. | Photographic copy of a head-and-shoulders portrait of Anderson McCauley (ca. 1850-1917), facing front. Original possibly a drawing or painting. – Rosa Parks statue was placed in the National Statuary Hall in 2006 – Rosa Parks Library and Museum dedicated on the campus of Troy University in Montgomery in December 2000 – Time Magazine named Rosa Parks as one of the 20 most powerful and influential figures of the century in 1999 "Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words" is a collection of the civil rights activist's writings, documents and photos on display at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. (NPR) Related: Once, her grandfather Sylvester stood in front of their house with a shotgun while Ku Klux Klan members marched down the street. The Rosa Parks Story, was released in 2002. The movie won the Rosa Parks remembered how her grandfather responded to the threat by keeping a double-barreled shotgun close at hand at all times, loaded and ready for the first hooded bigot who trespassed onto his property. There's comments here from people who marvel at their 24, 27, or some degree of separation from Rosa (McCauley) Parks. That's interesting, but lets talk about relations a little closer. It's claimed (in a Virginia newspaper article), by a cousin of Rosa Parks, that one of Rosa's great grandfathers was Scots-Irish and his wife a Creek Indian. When Rosa Parks was a little girl in rural Alabama, she would stay up at night, keeping watch with her grandfather as he stood guard with a shotgun against marauding members of the Ku Klux Klan.
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