Rosa Parks

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Lore & Background

Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, Parks grew up under Jim Crow segregation. She later moved to Montgomery and joined the city's chapter of the NAACP in 1943, serving as the organization's secretary. Despite policies designed to disenfranchise Black citizens, Parks successfully registered to vote after three separate attempts between 1943 and 1945. She investigated cases and organized campaigns around racial and sexual violence in her capacity as NAACP secretary, including those of Recy Taylor and Jeremiah Reeves, laying groundwork for future civil rights campaigns. Custom in Montgomery required Black passengers to surrender their seats in the front of the bus to accommodate white riders. Before Parks's refusal, several Black Montgomerians had refused to do so, including 15-year-old Claudette Colvin. When Parks was arrested in 1955, local leaders were searching for a person who would be a good legal test case. The Women's Political Council organized a one-day bus boycott on the day of her trial. After Parks was found guilty, the boycott was extended indefinitely, lasting 381 days until segregation on buses was deemed unconstitutional in Browder v. Gayle.

Reader's Guide

After the boycott ended, Parks experienced financial hardship and health problems due, in part, to her participation. In 1957, she relocated to Detroit, Michigan. She continued to advocate for civil rights, supporting people such as John Conyers, Joanne Little, Gary Tyler, Angela Davis, Joe Madison, and Nelson Mandela. She was also a supporter of the Black power movement and an anti-apartheid activist, participating in protests and conferences as part of the Free South Africa Movement. In 1987, she co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development with Elaine Eason Steele. After Parks's death in 2005, she was honored with public viewings and memorial services in three cities: in Montgomery; in Washington, D.C., where she lay in state at the United States Capitol rotunda; and in Detroit, where she was ultimately interred at Woodlawn Cemetery. Parks received many awards and honors, both throughout her life and posthumously. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Congressional Gold Medal and was the first Black American to be memorialized in the National Statuary Hall.

Did You Know?

• Parks successfully registered to vote after three separate attempts between 1943 and 1945.
• Before Parks, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin had also refused to give up her bus seat and was arrested.
• The Montgomery bus boycott lasted 381 days and ended after segregation on buses was ruled unconstitutional in Browder v. Gayle.
• Parks was the first Black American to be memorialized in the National Statuary Hall.
• She co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in 1987.