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Known for
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Sparking the civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus
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Milestones
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1943-1956 In her spare time, Parks served as secretary and, for some of this period, youth advisor of the Montgomery branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
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December 1, 1955 Refused to yield her seat to a white man, as the law required; her arrest triggered the Montgomery bus boycott
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1957 Moved to Detroit, Michigan, because she and her husband could not find work in Montgomery as a result of her notoriety
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1965-1988 Worked as an administrative assistant to Detroit congressman John Conyers, Jr.
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1987 Founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development to give career training to Detroit youths
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1996 Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor the American government can give a civilian
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Did You Know
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In addition to her arrest in December of 1955, Parks was fined $14. She refused to pay the fine, and instead appealed to the circuit court.
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A 1956 district court lawsuit brought by the Montgomery Improvement Association and other civil rights advocates challenged segregated seating in public transportation; the court ruled that bus segregation was unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court later upheld the decision in November 1956. Desegregation of Montgomery buses began a month later.
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