Rosa Parks facts can teach us a great deal about The Civil Rights Movement. Parks was a civil rights activist who became a symbol for Blacks struggling for equal rights in the Southern United States in the 1950s and 1960s. The most well-known of the Rosa Parks facts is that she was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a White person in Montgomery, Alabama. Her case drew national attention and she became a symbol of The Civil Rights Movement. It’s not often than famous historical facts center on someone’s arrest. However, Rosa Parks became a symbol of the struggle for freedom because she was arrested for her actions. Rosa Parks facts reveal the unjust laws that led to her arrest, and the efforts to change the laws.

1. ROSA
PARKS
FACTS

2.  Rosa Parks Was Born Rosa Louise McCauley on
February 4th, 1913
Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913 in
Tuskegee, Alabama. Her father James McCauley
was a carpenter and her mother Leona McCauley
was a teacher. In 1932, she married Raymond
Parks, a barber from Montgomery, Alabama.
 Rosa Parks’ Husband Raymond Parks Was a
Member of the NAACP
Rosa Parks’ husband, Raymond Parks, was a member
of the Montgomery chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of Coloured People
(NAACP). NAACP was formed in the 1900s to help
further the cause of Blacks in America.

3.  Rosa Parks Was The Secretary of the
Montgomery, Alabama NAACP
In 1943, Rosa Parks became the secretary of the
Montgomery, Alabama chapter of the NAACP. She
was also a feminist working for equal rights for all
people, regardless of race or gender.
 Rosa Parks Was Trained in Civil Rights in 1955
In 1955, Parks was trained at the Highlander Folk
School in civil rights activism. The school, located in
Tennessee, also trained Martin Luther King, Jr. and
other important members of the civil rights
movement.

4.  The Busses in 1950’s Montgomery Were
Segregated By a Law from 1900
The busses in Montgomery, Alabama had been segregated
since 1900. There was an area at the front of the bus that was
designated for Whites only. Blacks were not allowed to sit in
this area, or even across the aisle from Whites! Bus drivers
were given the responsibility of enforcing the segregation law
 Rosa Parks Refused to Give Up Her Seat on a
Bus December 1st, 1955
Rosa Parks was one of the people sitting in the rows the bus
driver wanted to be clear to make room for White people.
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and the bus driver
threatened to call the police. Rosa Parks said, “You may do
that”. Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her
seat. The fact that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat is
the most well-known of all Rosa Parks facts.

5.  Rosa Parks Was Chosen by Edgar Nixon and MLK,
Jr. to Be a Symbol
After she was arrested, Parks was bailed out the next day
by Edgar Nixon, the president of the local NAACP
chapter where Parks was secretary. Nixon met with
other civil rights leaders and they decided that Parks’
case was worth making a symbol. Rosa Parks was
chosen because she was a well-educated responsible
citizen.
 Rosa Parks Sparked a Boycott that Ignited the Civil
Rights Movement
People are interested in Rosa Parks facts because her act
sparked the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. The
civil rights leaders in Montgomery, including Martin
Luther King, Jr., announced the Montgomery Bus
Boycott in response to Rosa Parks’ arrest and the unjust
laws.

6.  Rosa Parks’ Case Was Not the Case That
Desegregated the Busses
It’s another of the surprising Rosa Parks facts that it was
not her appeal that succeeded in the changing the laws
in Montgomery. People who had been arrested before
Rosa Parks filed a case, Browder v. Gayle, that was
already in the court system.
 The Busses in Montgomery Were Desegregated on
December 20th, 1956
On June 13, 1956, the District Court of the United States
decided that the segregation laws on the busses in
Montgomery were unconstitutional. On November 13,
1956, the decision was upheld by the United States
Supreme Court. Finally, on December 20, 1956 the
busses in Montgomery, Alabama were desegregated, a
little more than a year after Rosa Parks refused to give
up her seat