Rosa Parks - Biography, Height, Weight, Age, Boyfriend, Husband, Family, Life Story & More
Name Rosa Parks
Also Known As Rosa Louise McCauley Parks
Date of Birth 4
Feb, 1913
Birth Place Tuskegee, Alabama, USA
Born Country United
States
Died on October
24, 2005
Place of Death Detroit,
Michigan, United States
Notable Alumni Alabama
State University
Grouping of People Black
Activist
Cause of Death Natural
Causes
U.S. State Alabama
Epitaphs Mother
of the Civil Rights Movement
Family
Spouse/Ex- Raymond
Parks (m. 1932–1977)
Father: James
McCauley
Mother: Leona
McCauley
Siblings: Sylvester
American civil rights pioneer Rosa Louise McCauley
Parks is frequently referred to as the "mother of the freedom
movement" and "the first lady of civil rights." She was an
African-American civil rights fighter who, by taking a courageous step that no
other African-American had before, started the "Civil Rights
Movement." She resided and worked in Montgomery, a city where black people
faced discrimination due to racial segregation laws. Evidently, white people
and black people could not share seats on public transportation. They had
specially designated seats in the back of the bus, and the driver was solely
responsible for assigning them to those seats. Parks was asked to
give up her seat to a white passenger one day as she was returning from work,
but she refused. She was detained for doing this in 1955, and as a result, the
'Civil Rights Movement' erupted. Parks was raised, worked, and spent the
majority of her life in Montgomery where she and her husband were both active
members of a social activist group. She became well-known due to her deeds'
generosity. She spent her entire life working for social causes and the
emancipation of African-Americans.
Rosa Parks Early Childhood & Life
Rosa Louise McCauley was born on February 4, 1913, to
Leona and James McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, USA. She came from a household
of middle class. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was a carpenter. She
relocated to Pine Level with her mother when her parents got divorced.
The 'Industrial School for Girls' in Montgomery was
where she studied. For her secondary education, she subsequently attended a
school established by the "Alabama State Teachers College for
Negroes." She left it, though, in order to care for her family.
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Rosa Parks Career
Parks began working as a domestic servant, hospital
assistant, and other menial occupations after getting married in 1932 since she
lacked the education necessary to find a respectable position. She completed
her high school courses because her husband insisted she do so.
Parks joined the Montgomery NAACP chapter in 1943 and
become more and more involved in the 'Civil Rights Movement'. Parks was chosen
to serve as the group's secretary because she was the only female present.
She was assigned the assignment to look into the 1944
gang rape of a black lady named Recy Taylor when she was the secretary. She
founded the "Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor"
initiative with other campaigners.
Parks was able to get employment at "Maxwell Air
Force Base" in the next years because racism was not tolerated on federal
grounds. She also accepted a position as a housekeeper for liberal white couple
Clifford and Virginia Durr.
Parks participated in a large gathering in Montgomery
in 1955 to debate the case of Emmett Till, a black youth who was murdered at
the age of 14 for insulting a white woman. The topic of racial segregation in
society was discussed at the gathering.
She was ordered to give up her seat to a white passenger
on a bus. She was detained in 1955 after refusing to comply. She was accused of
breaking the segregation law's Chapter 6, Section 11.
The NAACP chapter president of Montgomery, Edgar
Nixon, and a friend named Clifford Durr offered to bail her out the following
night. Nixon and Jo Ann Robinson made a bus boycott announcement in
retaliation.
The 'Montgomery Bus Boycott' was declared at black
churches the following morning, and 'The Montgomery Advertiser' broadcast the
information. It sought to demand hiring of black bus drivers, equitable
treatment of blacks, etc.
Although it looked that Parks' case would take years
to be resolved, the state moved things along because the "Montgomery Bus
Boycott," which lasted for 381 days, had an impact on the public bus
industry.
Since Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote about Parks'
arrest in his 1958 book "Stride Toward Freedom," it is believed that
Parks was instrumental in bringing attention to the plight of African-Americans
and the civil rights movement on a global scale.
Despite her fame, Parks was forced to relocate to
Virginia in 1957 because she was unable to maintain her employment owing to the
harsh penalties activists were subjected to. She held a hostess position at an
inn inside a historically black college.
She started working for John Conyers' congressional
office in Detroit in 1965 as a secretary and receptionist. Representative John
Conyers was an American of African descent. She spent over 23 years in that
place of employment.
She once again became involved in educational and
civil rights causes in the 1980s. She co-founded the "Rosa L. Parks
Scholarship Foundation" for college-bound high school seniors with the
little money she had.
Along with Elaine Eason Steele, she also launched the
"Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development" in 1987.
Aiming to educate young people about significant Underground Railroad and civil
rights places, the institute was established.
Rosa Parks' autobiography, "Rosa Parks: My
Story," which she published in 1992, details the events that led up to her
choice to keep her seat on the bus. She then released her autobiography,
"Quiet Strength," a few years later.
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Rosa Parks Personal Legacy & Life
In 1932, Parks wed Raymond, a barber from Montgomery.
He belonged to the NAACP. She remained his wife up until his 1977 death from
throat cancer. They didn't have any kids.
For several years, Parks and her husband both had
stomach ulcers. Cancer was discovered in her mother, brother, and husband. She
had to care for them, and by the end of the 1970s, they had all passed away.
2005 saw Parks' passing in Detroit. She became the
second black person and the first woman whose body was brought to Washington,
D.C., and interred in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.
Rosa Parks Bigger Works
Parks' decision to keep her seat in the bus in 1955
was the apex of her life. The 'Civil Rights Movement' would have been postponed
if she hadn't stood up against social injustices that day.
Rosa Parks Recognition & Achievements
Parks received numerous honors for her involvement in
the 'Civil Rights Movement,' including the 'Spingarn Medal,' 'Martin Luther
King Jr. Award,' 'Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award,' 'Presidential
Medal of Freedom,' 'Congressional Gold Medal,' and 'Windsor-Detroit
International Freedom Festival Freedom Award.'
Trivia
Missouri's "Rosa Parks Highway" bears her
name.
Parks relied on her salary because she was not a
wealthy person.
She made an appearance on the TV show "Touched by
an Angel."
She was unable to make the Detroit apartment's rent
payment. However, executives of the owning firm announced in 2002 that she
could live there for free for the rest of her life due to her celebrity and
reputation.
1994 saw the break-in, theft, and assault of her home
by an African-American drug addict.
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