Montgomery in Montgomery County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Photographed By Mark Hilton, April 2, 2022
1. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott Marker
Inscription.
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. . On December 1, 1955, Rosa Louis McCauley Parks was arrested on this site for refusing the order of city bus driver J. F. Blake to vacate her seat under the segregation laws of the Jim Crow era. She was taken to police headquarters at City Hall for booking, then to the municipal jail on Ripley Street. Civil rights leader E. D. Nixon, accompanied by attorney Clifford Durr, soon arrived to post her bail. Parks's arrest galvanized black leaders to organize a boycott of the bus system for Dec. 5, the date she was to appear in Municipal Court. Her conviction and the success of the one-day bus protest inspired the creation of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to continue what came to be known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott. , The 382-day boycott was the first sustained mass demonstration against segregation in the U.S. and launched the 20th-century civil rights movement. It also thrust Martin Luther King Jr., the elected leader of the MIA, into national prominence. The boycott ended after a lawsuit filed by Mrs. Parks's attorney, Fred D. Gray, ultimately led the federal courts to declare segregated bus seating unconstitutional. Mrs. Parks went on to become a national heroine, but in the aftermath of the boycott she and her husband were denied employment in Montgomery. They moved to Detroit, where she lived out her life. She died October 24, 2005, universally honored for her courage and activism.
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Louis McCauley Parks was arrested on this site for refusing the order of city bus driver J. F. Blake to vacate her seat under the segregation laws of the Jim Crow era. She was taken to police headquarters at City Hall for booking, then to the municipal jail on Ripley Street. Civil rights leader E. D. Nixon, accompanied by attorney Clifford Durr, soon arrived to post her bail. Parks's arrest galvanized black leaders to organize a boycott of the bus system for Dec. 5, the date she was to appear in Municipal Court. Her conviction and the success of the one-day bus protest inspired the creation of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to continue what came to be known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
The 382-day boycott was the first sustained mass demonstration against segregation in the U.S. and launched the 20th-century civil rights movement. It also thrust Martin Luther King Jr., the elected leader of the MIA, into national prominence. The boycott ended after a lawsuit filed by Mrs. Parks's attorney, Fred D. Gray, ultimately led the federal courts to declare segregated bus seating unconstitutional. Mrs. Parks went on to become a national heroine, but in the aftermath of the boycott she and her husband were denied employment in Montgomery. They moved to Detroit, where she lived out her life.
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She died October 24, 2005, universally honored for her courage and activism.
Erected 2015 by the Alabama Historical Association.
Location. 32° 22.59′ N, 86° 18.68′ W. Marker is in Montgomery, Alabama, in Montgomery County. Marker is at the intersection of Montgomery Street and Molton Street, on the right when traveling south on Montgomery Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 252 Montgomery St, Montgomery AL 36104, United States of America. Touch for directions.
3. View of Rosa Parks Marker at the Rosa Parks Library & Museum.
Marker is just to left of light pole near center of photo.
Public Domain ca. 1955
4. Rosa Louise Parks
Photograph of Rosa Parks with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
USIA / National Archives and Records Administration Records of the U.S. Information Agency Record Group 306
Photographed By Mark Hilton, December 5, 2015
5. Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery
Photographed By Mark Hilton, December 5, 2015
6. Rosa Parks statue in museum (sitting on bus seat)
Photographed By Mark Hilton, December 5, 2015
7. Rosa Parks display inside museum.
Credits. This page was last revised on April 2, 2022. It was originally submitted on December 5, 2015, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 1,703 times since then and 244 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on April 2, 2022, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on December 5, 2015, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.