Black American woman Rosa McCauley (1913-2005) grew up in the segregated South. She was often confronted with racial discrimination and violence, co-existing with white people in a city governed by Jim Crow segregation laws that started with Reconstruction in 1877.
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Poster celebrating Martin Luther King Day
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Memorial plaque in Montgomery, on the site of Rosa's bus stop
Fired from her job a month into the boycott, Parks spent most of 1956 travelling across the country, raising awareness and funds for the movement. She met Thurgood Marshall, visited the Statue of Liberty, did radio interviews and gave many speeches. Her efforts, with others in Montgomery, helped turn a local struggle into a national movement.
What was the rest of Rosa’s life like? The "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement" lost her job for participating in the boycott and felt harassed. The boycott engendered anger and violence in much of Montgomery’s white population; Nixon’s and Rev King’s homes were bombed. Thankfully Montgomery’s drama filled the national press. Post-boycott, Parks and family eventually moved to Detroit in 1957. Her success in the south helped Detroit’s Civil Rights Movement.
She protested housing segregation, participated in Detroit’s Great March for Freedom and attended the March on Washington in August 1963. The following year, Parks volunteered in John Conyers’ congressional campaign for Michigan’s first district on a platform of Jobs, Justice, Peace. After he was elected to Congress, Conyers hired her for his Detroit office, a city she found to be plagued with racial and social inequity. Her work with constituents in Rep. Conyers’ office made her keenly aware of poverty, job discrimination, access to health care, housing segregation, school inequality and police brutality. She worked on prisoner support, helped run the Detroit chapter of the Friends of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and participated in the growing movement against U.S involvement in Vietnam.
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In 1932, at 19, she married Raymond Parks, an older man involved in fighting against racial injustice as a member of the National Association for Advancement of Coloured People/NAACP. Eventually Rosa was elected secretary of the Montgomery NAACP chapter, serving in that role for years. Rosa also worked closely with the president of the local branch of NAACP Edgar Nixon, the advocate for black votes.
In Dec 1955, a white man had no bus seat because all the seats in the designated White Section were taken. When Parks remained in her Black seat, two police officers approached the stopped bus, assessed the situation, arrested Rosa and locked her up.
In Dec 1955, a white man had no bus seat because all the seats in the designated White Section were taken. When Parks remained in her Black seat, two police officers approached the stopped bus, assessed the situation, arrested Rosa and locked her up.
Edgar Nixon was there when Parks was bailed. Nixon had long hoped to find a black person of great integrity to become the plaintiff in a test case regarding segregation laws. Plus another idea: Montgomery’s blacks would boycott the buses on the day of Parks’ trial, 5th Dec. Montgomery's Bus Boycott became an important social movement, begun by local Baptist Church pastor Rev Martin Luther King because the Negroes-In-Back policy was so demeaning.
The boycott hurt the bus company more than expected. It lasted a year and ended only when the USA Supreme Court upheld a lower court, declaring Montgomery’s segregated seating unconstitutional.
The boycott hurt the bus company more than expected. It lasted a year and ended only when the USA Supreme Court upheld a lower court, declaring Montgomery’s segregated seating unconstitutional.
Fired from her job a month into the boycott, Parks spent most of 1956 travelling across the country, raising awareness and funds for the movement. She met Thurgood Marshall, visited the Statue of Liberty, did radio interviews and gave many speeches. Her efforts, with others in Montgomery, helped turn a local struggle into a national movement.
What was the rest of Rosa’s life like? The "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement" lost her job for participating in the boycott and felt harassed. The boycott engendered anger and violence in much of Montgomery’s white population; Nixon’s and Rev King’s homes were bombed. Thankfully Montgomery’s drama filled the national press. Post-boycott, Parks and family eventually moved to Detroit in 1957. Her success in the south helped Detroit’s Civil Rights Movement.
She protested housing segregation, participated in Detroit’s Great March for Freedom and attended the March on Washington in August 1963. The following year, Parks volunteered in John Conyers’ congressional campaign for Michigan’s first district on a platform of Jobs, Justice, Peace. After he was elected to Congress, Conyers hired her for his Detroit office, a city she found to be plagued with racial and social inequity. Her work with constituents in Rep. Conyers’ office made her keenly aware of poverty, job discrimination, access to health care, housing segregation, school inequality and police brutality. She worked on prisoner support, helped run the Detroit chapter of the Friends of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and participated in the growing movement against U.S involvement in Vietnam.
Rosa Parks (L), Dr & Mrs Abernathy, Dr Ralph Bunche, Dr & Mrs Martin Luther King, Jr.
leading marchers into Montgomery, 1965.
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Statue marked “Rosa Parks/1913–2005”
in National Statuary Hall in the U.S Capitol.
Granite pedestal, 9’ tall, bronze statue, 2013
In Sept 2014, the Library of Congress received a great loan of the Rosa Parks Collection, purchased by Howard Buffett. The collection, in an auction house warehouse for years, now ensured the public would benefit from the historical record of Parks’ life. The legacy of resistance against racial injustice that she left was rich indeed.
leading marchers into Montgomery, 1965.
By 1980 the widowed Parks suffered from financial and health troubles; luckily local community members and churches came together to support the heroine. She remained active in the NAACP & the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and travelled in support of civil-rights causes.
In 1999, the U.S Congress honoured her with a Congressional Gold Medal for Civilians.
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In 1999, the U.S Congress honoured her with a Congressional Gold Medal for Civilians.
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Days after Rosa’s death in 2005, all the city buses in Montgomery and Detroit reserved their front seats with black ribbons. Her body was flown back to Montgomery and taken to St Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church. She lay at rest there overnight when a memorial service was held in her honour, given by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
On the day of Rosa’s funeral procession, President Bush ordered all flags in the Nation’s Capitol and all U.S public areas, to be flown at half-mast. By allowing her body to rest in so many prestigious places, many people could pay their respects to this woman who had done so much to change the nation’s future. In Washington D.C, a bus like the one she made her famous stand in transported her to the U.S Capitol Rotunda. There she was viewed by 50,000+ people. After the memorial service in Washington D.C, she was taken back to Detroit to the Charles Wright Museum of African American History and lay in repose for two days.
On the day of Rosa’s funeral procession, President Bush ordered all flags in the Nation’s Capitol and all U.S public areas, to be flown at half-mast. By allowing her body to rest in so many prestigious places, many people could pay their respects to this woman who had done so much to change the nation’s future. In Washington D.C, a bus like the one she made her famous stand in transported her to the U.S Capitol Rotunda. There she was viewed by 50,000+ people. After the memorial service in Washington D.C, she was taken back to Detroit to the Charles Wright Museum of African American History and lay in repose for two days.
Thousands of Americans gathered at the U.S. Capitol in Washington to pay tribute to Rosa
Then a funeral service was held for Rosa at the Greater Grace Temple Church in Detroit. An honour guard from the Michigan National Guard laid a flag over the casket before it was transported in a long procession where thousands of people stood and released white balloons.
Authorised by the Congress in 2005, the Statue of Rosa Parks was historically significant as being the first full-length statue of an African American person in the U.S Capitol, the first statue commissioned by the Congress since 1873.
Authorised by the Congress in 2005, the Statue of Rosa Parks was historically significant as being the first full-length statue of an African American person in the U.S Capitol, the first statue commissioned by the Congress since 1873.
in National Statuary Hall in the U.S Capitol.
Granite pedestal, 9’ tall, bronze statue, 2013
In Sept 2014, the Library of Congress received a great loan of the Rosa Parks Collection, purchased by Howard Buffett. The collection, in an auction house warehouse for years, now ensured the public would benefit from the historical record of Parks’ life. The legacy of resistance against racial injustice that she left was rich indeed.