Rosa Parks
A Civil Rights Hero
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks
Civil rights activist Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her refusal to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus spurred a city-wide boycott. The city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. Rosa Parks received many accolades during her lifetime, including the NAACP's highest award.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Bus Boycott
People participated in the bus boycott by walking to their workplaces instead of riding the bus
Rosa Parks is Arrested
Shown here Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man.
Bus Boycott Planning
Martin Luther King Jr. outlines boycott strategies to his advisers and organizers including Rev. Ralph Abernathy and Rosa Parks.
Did You Know?
When Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat in 1955, it wasn’t the first time she’d clashed with driver James Blake. Parks stepped onto his very crowded bus on a chilly day 12 years earlier, paid her fare at the front, then resisted the rule in place for blacks to disembark and re-enter through the back door. She stood her ground until Blake pulled her coat sleeve, enraged, to demand her cooperation. Parks left the bus rather than give in.