Photos: Rosa Parks, civil rights icon, gets her place in Alabama history
The unveiling of a memorial statue in downtown Montgomery, Ala., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, took place 64 years after Parks' arrest to not giving up her seat on a city bus.
Alabama unveils statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks
Attendees gather to have their photos made with the Rosa parks statue after its unveiling in downtown Montgomery, Ala., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, the anniversary of her arrest for not giving up her seat on a city bus.
Alabama unveils statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks
Mary Louise Smith, a plaintiff in the Browder vs. Gayle case that desegregated buses in Montgomery, stands beside the Rosa Parks statue after its unveiling event in downtown Montgomery, Ala., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, the anniversary of her arrest for not giving up her seat on a city bus.
Alabama unveils statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks
The Rosa Parks statue stands on Dexter Avenue in downtown Montgomery, Ala., with the state capitol behind it, after its unveiling Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, the anniversary of her arrest for not giving up her seat on a city bus.
Alabama unveils statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, left, and Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed, right, among others, unveil the Rosa Parks statue in downtown Montgomery, Ala., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, the anniversary of her arrest for not giving up her seat on a city bus.
Alabama unveils statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks
Mary Louise Smith, from left, Gov. Kay Ivey, Civil Rights Attorney Fred Gtray and Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed pose after the unveiling of the Rosa Parks statue in downtown Montgomery, Ala., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, the anniversary of her arrest for not giving up her seat on a city bus.
Rosa Parks statue to be unveiled Sunday
FILE -- In a June 15, 1999 file photo Rosa Parks smiles during a Capitol Hill ceremony where Parks was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington. A new statue of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks will be unveiled in downtown Montgomery, Ala., on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019.
Rosa Parks statue to be unveiled Sunday
FILE -- In a June 15, 1999 file photo Rosa Parks smiles during a Capitol Hill ceremony where Parks was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington. A new statue of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks will be unveiled in downtown Montgomery, Ala., on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019.
1955: Rosa Parks
In 1955, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, was arrested after refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus; the incident sparked a year-long boycott of the buses by blacks.
Nov. 2, 2005
In a Nov. 2, 2005 file photo, Congressman John Conyers, D-Mich., speaks at the funeral for civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks in Detroit. Detroit police say the former congressman died at his home on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019. He was 90. ( (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
April 11, 1991
Left to right are C. Dolores Tucker, executive producer of Parks Salute; Charles Rangel (D-NYC), Rosa Parks, Elaine Steele, executive assistant to Rosa Parks; John Conyers (D-Mich.), shown together, April 11, 1991. (AP Photo)
2005: Rosa Parks
In 2005, civil rights icon Rosa Parks died in Detroit at age 92.
1955: Civil rights movement takes off
In August of 1955, a black teenager named Emmett Till was murdered for reportedly whistling at a white woman. The men responsible were acquitted by an all-white jury, although decades later witnesses recanted their statements against Till. On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man, which launched a boycott of the Montgomery bus system. Also in 1955: Jonas Salk's Polio vaccine was created, Disneyland opened in California, and actor James Dean died in a car accident.
1946: Morgan v. Virginia invalidates separate but equal on interstate bus transport
In a case predating the Rosa Parks bus boycott, Irene Morgan was riding on a Greyhound bus and refused to give her seat up to a white passenger. Morgan was arrested but refused to plead guilty to violating Virginia’s segregation law. That move presented an opportunity for Morgan's lawyer to argue that the law unfairly got in the way of interstate commerce. The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in her favor.
1955: Rosa Parks sparks Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks' decision not to give up her seat to a white man on an Alabama bus changed the course of American history. The same day Parks was convicted of violating segregation laws, black community leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., organized a boycott of the Montgomery bus system. It would not end until the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation laws were unconstitutional. Parks subsequently became a symbol of the civil rights movement and continued her work as an activist against inequality.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Her act of civil disobedience launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a 13-month protest during which black residents refused to ride city buses. The boycott was organized by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Improvement Association, which launched civil rights into the national spotlight. The Supreme Court ultimately outlawed segregation on public buses.
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