Why was Rosa Parks arrested?
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Montgomery law stated that the first ten seats on public buses were reserved for white people. Parks was sitting in the row directly behind these ten seats. As the bus became more crowded, the driver asked Parks to move to the back so that a white passenger could have her seat. Parks refused to move and the police were called. The National Archives web page explains that she was charged with "refusing to obey orders of the bus driver."
What happened after she was arrested?
Parks was the secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Montgomery. In response to her arrest, the African American community in Montgomery boycotted the buses for 381 days, which was led by Martin Luther King Jr. The Library of Congress mentions how Parks traveled the country to raise awareness and money to fund the bus boycott. In 1956, the Browder v. Gayle case ruled that racial segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.
Parks' Legacy
Parks involvement in racial justice coined her the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement." The National Park Service website declares that Parks was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, which is the "highest honor a civilian can receive in the United States." Parks died on October 24th, 2005, however her legacy continues to live on. The Architect of the Capital describes that her casket was placed in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capital, a place where prominent citizens are paid their final tribute. Furthermore, a statue was dedicated to her. The Rosa Parks statue was revealed in 2005, and it is the "first full-length statue of an African American in the U.S. Capitol." The sculptor portrayed Parks in the same clothes the day she was arrested. The statue is meant to show her "inner strength, dignity, resolve and determination, all characteristics of her long-time commitment to working for civil rights."
Want more information?
The Library of Congress has a Rosa Parks collection which contains documents about her private life along with her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. The collection has eleven different series that depict letters that Parks wrote and the responses.
Search "Rosa Parks" in the OSU Library's BOSS database to find more resources.
What do you think about Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement?
-by Emily Hancz
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