Downtown in Grand Rapids in Kent County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Rosa Parks
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Maya Lin
Photographed by Joel Seewald, April 5, 2024
1. Rosa Parks / Maya Lin Marker
Rosa Parks
On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks changed American history forever.
Riding on a bus in Montgomery Alabama, she refused to give up her seat to a white man.
Her dignified defiance sparked the 38-day Montgomery bus boycott and ignited a national movement that ended legal segregation.
A resident of Michigan for almost 50 years, she was a frequent visitor to Grand Rapids.
Rosa Parks was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996.
We are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.
Maya Lin
Maya Lin has helped a nation heal - with her moving design of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington DC which she designed at the age of 21.
Since then she has gone on to a celebrated career that bridges between art and architecture - and oftentimes connects back to memory and history.
She fuses her work with its setting to create a tension and balance between natural and man-made environments that makes us look afresh at a place.
Passionate about nature since childhood, she raises environmental issues through her activism and art.
Maya LIn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
this page online
I try to give people a different way of looking at their surroundings.
* Rosa Parks and Maya Lin's paths crossed once.
It was in 1989 at the dedication to the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery Alabama designed by Maya Lin.
Two strong women united by a desire to make the world a better place.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Civil Rights • Women. A significant historical date for this entry is December 1, 1955.
Location. 42° 57.93′ N, 85° 40.308′ W. Marker is in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in Kent County. It is in Downtown. It can be reached from Monroe Avenue Northwest near Monroe Center Street Northwest, on the left. The marker is in Rosa Parks Circle. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 135 Monroe Center St NW, Grand Rapids MI 49503, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in West Michigan. It is also in the American Midwest and on the Great Lakes. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Love, 1966-1999 (within shouting distance of this marker); Rosa Louise Parks (within shouting distance of this marker); Arthur H. Vandenberg (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Rev. Fr. Frederick Baraga (about 500 feet away); The Salvation Army (about 500 feet away); Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel (about 500 feet away);
Photographed by Joel Seewald, April 5, 2024
2. Rosa Parks / Maya Lin Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on July 31, 2024. It was originally submitted on July 31, 2024, by Joel Seewald of Madison Heights, Michigan. This page has been viewed 110 times since then and 22 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 31, 2024, by Joel Seewald of Madison Heights, Michigan.
