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. Civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking the transformational Montgomery Bus Boycott. 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 Parks work proved to be invaluable in Detroit’s Civil Rights Movement. She was an active member of several organizations which worked to end inequality in the city. By 1980, after consistently giving to the movement both financially and physically Parks, now widowed, suffered from financial and health troubles. Rosa Parks is best known for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, which sparked a yearlong boycott that was a turning point in the civil rights Mrs. Parks has written four books, Rosa Parks: My Story: by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins, Quiet Strength by Rosa Parks with Gregory J. Reed, Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue With Today’s Youth by Rosa Parks with Gregory J, Reed, this book received the NAACP’s Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, (Children’s) in 1996 and her latest book, I 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. Parks continued to face harassment following the boycott’s successful conclusion and decided to move to Detroit to seek better employment opportunities. Shortly before her departure, the MIA declared 5 August 1957 “Rosa Parks Day.” A celebration was held at Mt. Zion AME Zion Church, and $800 was presented to Parks. Rosa Parks smiles during a ceremony where she received the Congressional Medal of Freedom in Detroit on Nov. 28, 1999. Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the Susan shares a Rosa Parks story that powerfully conveys the poignancy of racial discrimination. It was during a time when Rosa was working at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery – an integrated facility. As Susan tells the story: “At the end of the work day, Rosa would get on a bus. And it would be an integrated bus. Rosa Parks’s story shows us how a single moment of bravery can create ripples that change society. That fateful December day in Montgomery started like any other. Rosa Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus, tired after a long day of work as a seamstress. It was a massive success for the Civil Rights Movement, showing that nonviolent protest, against all odds, could work. After 1956, Rosa Parks could sit wherever she wanted on the bus Image: UIG 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 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. Rosa Parks is often remembered as the quiet seamstress who ignited the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Yet, her history as an advocate against sexual violence is often overlooked. Parks’ work demonstrates how the fight against sexual violence is inseparably linked to the fight against systemic oppression, particularly racism, sexism, and misogynoir. Rosa Parks is best known for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, which sparked a yearlong boycott that was a turning point in the civil rights Rosa Parks' Bus . In 1955, African Americans were still required by a Montgomery, Alabama, city ordinance to sit in the back half of city buses and to yield their seats to white riders if the It was a massive success for the Civil Rights Movement, showing that nonviolent protest, against all odds, could work. After 1956, Rosa Parks could sit wherever she wanted on the bus Image: UIG/IMAGO. Mrs. Parks has written four books, Rosa Parks: My Story: by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins, Quiet Strength by Rosa Parks with Gregory J. Reed, Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue With Today’s Youth by Rosa Parks with Gregory J, Reed, this book received the NAACP’s Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, (Children’s) in 1996 and her latest book, I
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