Rosa Parks
by
Sydney Toschlog,
Allison Osborne,
Ashley Lynch, &
Kaley Burch
Table of Contents
Foreword
3
Introduction
4
Timeline
5
Chapter 1: Early Life
6
Chapter 2: Beginning of Activism
18
Chapter 3: The Movement
32
Chapter 4: Awards
38
Glossary
48-50
Bibliography
51-53
About the Authors
54-57
Foreword
This biography is a powerful story about a woman who stands up for
what she believes in. As a librarian, I have read several books about
the Civil Rights Movement and human beings standing up for their
beliefs in general. The story of Rosa Parks, in particular, is one of the
most compelling and inspirational among these accounts from
history.
“People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired,”
wrote Parks in her autobiography, “but that isn’t true. I was not tired
physically… No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
This quote represents the strength and determination that Rosa
Parks exhibited. This biography shows the reader that Rosa Parks was
much more than a tired seamstress, but an influential woman who
began a movement.
Introduction
Rosa Parks is known as the “Mother of the Civil Rights
Movement.” Her legacy began far before the December day
on the bus however, her name has resonated through our
country every day since. Rosa Parks’ childhood and education
shaped her into the inspiration that she would soon become.
Her devotion and action for the fight against racism and
discrimination is a reminder that she could stand up even by
sitting down. She began the movement that inspired the
eventual end to all discrimination in America.
To Rosa Parks
Whose creative witness was the great force that led to the modern
stride toward freedom.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Timeline of the Life of Rosa Parks
1929
1943
1933
Dec. 5,
1955
May 4,
1999
1965
Attended
Feb. 4,
Montgomery
1913
Industrial
School for
Girls
Born in
Tuskegee
Alabama
Rosa married
Raymond
Parks
Left school to
support her
grandmother
and mother
Earned her
high
school
degree
1943
1924
1932
Rosa refuses
to move
seats on the
bus and is
arrested
Joined the
Montgomery
chapter of the
NAACP
First bus
incident
Supreme Court
ruled bus
segregation
unconstitutional
Rosa found
guilty of
violating
segregation
laws
Dec. 1, 1955
Nov. 13,
1956
1992
Dec. 20, 1956
Moved to
Detroit
1980
Awarded
the
Springarn
medal
Awarded
Presidential
Medal of
Freedom
Became
Received
administrative
MLK award
aide in Detroit
office of
congressman 1979
1957
John Conyers
Jr.
Bus Boycott
ended
Rosa met
Nelson
Mandela
Awarded
Congressional
Gold Medal
Sept. 9, 1996
1990
Death
Published
Autobiogr
-aphy
2005
Chapter 1: Early Life
Rosa Louise Parks, named after her grandmother Rose, was the first
child of Leona and James McCauley. She was born in Tuskegee,
Alabama on February 4, 1913. At the age of 25, Rosa’s mom
claimed that she was not ready to be a mother. James was always
working, and she was stuck at home alone with a sickly Rosa.
Hello, I’m Rosa! This page tells you
that I was sickly during my
childhood. This is because I had
chronic Tonsillitis. To the upper
right is a picture of the home I lived
in with my father’s family in
Abbeville. To the lower right is a
picture of the Tuskegee Institute.
James and his brother built houses
and attended the Tuskegee Institute
together. Leona wanted James to
become a teacher at the institute
because teachers were provided with
houses. James disagreed and the
family left Tuskegee to live with
James’s family in Abbeville. Leona was
very unhappy here. James decided to
go north, and Leona did not want to
stay with James’s family while he was
gone. So, a pregnant Leona and Rosa
left to live with Leona’s parents on a
small farm in Pine Level, Alabama.
After Sylvester, Rosa’s brother, was
born, Leona began teaching again.
She stayed with a family in town
because the school was too far from
her home to walk back and forth
everyday. Rosa and her brother
spent much time with their
grandparents while their mother
was away. Her father joined them
later and lived with them until Rosa
was two and a half. He left again to
find work and did not return until
Rosa was five, only to leave once
again. Rosa did not see him again
until after she was married.
This is a photo of my
father, James
McCauley.
Both of Rosa’s grandparents were former slaves. Her grandfather had
been beaten and starved by his white owners and grew to hate white
people. He didn’t want his grandchildren to play with white children.
He instilled in his children and grandchildren that you must not allow
yourself to be treated badly by anyone. Rosa said it was almost in her
genes. Her grandmother, however, was not bitter and angry towards all
whites like her husband. Rosa learned from both of them, and they
influenced how she behaved as an activist.
My grandparents had a
huge impact on my life.
They influenced how I
behaved as an activist.
This is a photo of a
school for black
children. I attended
schools similar to
this school.
Rosa’s grandfather did not want anyone in his family to cook or
clean for whites, he wanted them to be educated. Rosa started
school when she was about six years old. She started a year later
than most children because she was small and frail due to
chronic tonsillitis. Rosa liked her first two teachers and loved
school.
Rosa and Leona moved to Montgomery when Rosa was eight. They
lived with her grandmother’s cousin, Ida Nobles. Sylvester stayed
with his grandparents in Pine Village. Ida wanted to adopt Rosa, but
Leona wouldn’t allow it. Ida was upset, so the two moved again to
live with her mother’s cousin Lelar and his wife. Rosa attended
summer school here. Then, they moved back to Pine Level and she
attended Alabama State Normal School for the rest of the summer.
Her old school had closed down, so Sylvester and Rosa attended
Spring Hill, where her mother taught, during the school year.
During this time, her tonsils were removed, and she began growing
much more quickly.
I moved a lot as a child! At this time, it was not proper
for a woman and her child to live alone, so my mother
and I lived with many different family members. My
brother stayed with my grandparents when my mother
and I were away.
Alabama
Pine Level
Montgomery
Tuskegee
Detroit
Abbeville
These are all of
the places I lived
throughout my
life.
Michigan
When she was eleven, her mother sent her to Montgomery Industrial
School for Girls, which was more commonly known as Miss White’s
School for Girls. The school had a great reputation. During this time, she
lived with her Aunt Fannie and then moved back in with Cousin Lelar.
During tenth and eleventh grade, she began school at the Alabama State
Teachers College, but had to leave at the age of 16 to take care of her
grandmother, and later her mother. She learned to type and sew in order
to support her family. She did not finish school until many years later.
Miss White’s School for Girls
During her childhood, The Ku
Klux Klan was active Pine Level, so
Rosa witnessed violence in the
form of lynching and burnings.
They rode through the black
communities and burned
churches, beat up, and even killed
people. Rosa lived on a highway
and the Klan rode up and down
the highway. Rosa’s grandfather
kept a gun close in case the family
was attacked.
To the left is a picture of a Klan
member.
The Klan was very active during this time because black soldiers
were coming home from World War 1 and wanted to be
respected for fighting, and whites did not want to give them this
respect.
Jim Crow laws
meant
“separate but
equal.” You
can tell from
this photo
that the two
water
fountains
were not
equal, and
neither were
the laws.
Jim Crow laws were also active. This meant that blacks could attend only
certain schools, only drink from certain water fountains, and only us the
“black” library. Rosa was especially upset about her schooling. Blacks
had to build their own schools and heat them. They also had wooden
shudders rather than glass windowpanes like in white schools. She was
especially upset that blacks were only allowed to attend school five
months out of the year, but whites attended school for nine months out
of the year. Rosa decided that she wanted change.
This is a map of the United States that
shows the segregations laws of 1954. As
you can see, segregation was required
in Alabama during this time.
Chapter 2: Beginning of
Activism
When Rosa meet Raymond Parks, it was not
love at first sight. However, he never stopped
calling on her until she said yes. He came
into her life when she was not really thinking
about marriage. She had recently dropped
out of high school and though she wished to
go back to school, was needed to be home to
take care of her mother and her home.
When she first met Raymond, she thought of
him as being too white. He was light skinned
and owned his own car, which was rare for
blacks to have at the time. But Raymond was
intrigued by Rosa and finally she said yes to a
car ride with him.
He could talk and talk while she just listened to him. The two of
them grew up in different worlds despite both being born in
Alabama. Raymond, or Parks as everyone called him including
Rosa, lost both of his parents at a young age and he grew up in an
all-white neighborhood. Even though he himself was light
skinned, the whites in his neighborhood still gave him grief about
being “black”. Parks had an honest soul and kind heart and he
was the first real activist that Rosa had ever met.
To my left is a
picture of
Raymond.
Raymond Parks was already a long-time member of the NAACP,
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,
and it was because of this strong organization and its duties which
brought Rosa and Raymond together. The summer of 1931 was
filled with the case of the Scottsboro boys, who formed one of the
largest cases for the NAACP.
The nine boys in the
Scottsboro case were wrongly
accused of committing a
crime against two white
women. Raymond felt
passionately about this case
and it was this passion and
courage that was the cause
for Rosa’s admiration for
Parks, and the next year the
two were married.
The above picture is
supporters of the
Scottsboro boys. The
pictures to my left and
right are of the Scottsboro
boys themselves.
So, what is the NAACP? The National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People was founded on February
12, 1909. This is one of the oldest and
most influential organizations that
worked to end discrimination and created
the movement that rid of the entire
country of segregation between whites
and African Americans. All over the
they
called for laws against violence and wrongful indictments of
country,
African Americans. The NAACP was responsible for the Brown
vs. Board of Education case which ended the “separate but equal”
rulings in schools. In Montgomery, E.D. Nixon was the
President. He would become a large part of Rosa’s life and the
reason that she is considered the “Mother of the Civil Rights
Movement” today.
Rosa was proud of everything her husband did and he in turn gave her
his support, in finishing school, which she did, and eventually her
desire to vote. Despite being one of the very few black Americans to
obtain her high school diploma, her search for a proper job was limited.
In 1941 she got a job at Maxwell Field, the local Army Air Force base.
Rosa worked as a seamstress on the base. This was one of the only
places in Alabama where Rosa found integration in the transportation
services. Most people on the base were content with the black presence.
It was still not total acceptance, of course. Raymond eventually started
working at the barbershop on the base and had a run in with a white
man after Raymond sat down at the same table as two white women
for lunch. For some people acceptance
of the integration of whites and blacks
was not an option.
The picture here shows another worker and
I sitting on the bus to Maxwell Field. Most
of the time, out of habit, we would still
move to the back for the white folks who
came onto the bus.
The day that Rosa had her first bus incident was a wintery one in
1943. The back of the bus was crowded all the way up to the back
door, but the front of the bus was vacant. When Rosa got on the bus
this day the back of the bus was so crowded she would not have been
able to get on at the back due to the people blocking the door. But the
driver was a mean one. Rosa would never forget his face – he was thick
and rough looking with a mole above his mouth. Rosa tried to reason
with him that she could not get on at the back and would just go to
her section now that she was already on the bus and had paid.
It was a frequent practice of Montgomery bus
drivers to make blacks pay at the front of the bus
then get out and go around getting on at the back
of the bus, as not to walk through the white section
of the bus. How do you think you would feel if you
had to follow these rules?
The driver grabbed her sleeve and tugged her to the front of the
bus and forced her off. She did not resist, because she knew the
limits to this interaction. So she got off and as she did she could
hear the black riders still on the bus questioning her motives and
why she didn’t just obey. No one thought of this as an option to be
taken.
Though Raymond was supportive of his wife, he did not encourage
her to join the NAACP as he had. Rosa knew it was dangerous, but
felt this could not keep her from joining. There weren’t any female
members of the Montgomery branch besides Johnnie Carr who was
the secretary. So, on a December day in 1943, Rosa walked in to a
meeting, which happened to be the annual election meeting and
started her job as the secretary under the president, E.D. Nixon.
While I worked with the NAACP as E.D.
Nixon’s (shown left) secretary, I realized it
was going to take a lot of patience and faith.
Some times the NAACP would fight for years
on one case. While many we were not able to
save, these cases were more about challenging
power than changing it. While changing it
was the goal, it was going to take small battles
to win the big war.
There were few white people who were a part of the NAACP at the
time. This was because white supporters of civil rights were treated
almost as badly as blacks in Alabama and many other places in the
South. Through Rosa’s time with the NAACP she saw many cases
involving discrimination, unfair treatment, acts of violence, rape,
wrongful accusation, and much more for both blacks and whites.
Brown Vs. Board of Education
The Brown vs. Board of Education case is actually the name given to
five different cases that all complied to win the battle against
segregation in schools across America. After the NAACP had been
fighting, finally in 1954 the Supreme Court passed that segregated
schools was unconstitutional and went against the Equal Protection
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
E.D. Nixon was the one to introduce
Rosa to Virginia Durr. Mrs. Durr was a
white woman and a civil rights activist,
born and raised in Birmingham,
Alabama. Virginia Durr convinced
Rosa to go to a workshop in Tennessee
on “Racial De-Decision” at Highlander
Folks School. The Highlander Center
was the only place where people could
come together safely and discuss how
they could make a difference. Rosa,
after spending three weeks there, said
that her experience there became her
reason for not moving to the back of
the bus on that day that changed
history. It was here at Highlander that
she started to truly believe in the Civil
Rights Movement.
In the above photo, I
was attending
Highlander Folks
School. As you can
see, Martin Luther
King Jr. was there as
well.
During her time there she went to many workshops and classes, mostly
on the desegregation of schools. The ending of the Brown vs. Board of
Education trial was not too long before she went to Highlander. There
is a picture shown of Rosa sitting next to Martin Luther King, Jr. at
Highlander during this same workshop. This was a place where ideas
were born and could be shared. After ten days of being in an
unsegregated place, it was hard to return to Montgomery, Alabama
where voices went mute and buses were split in two.
Chapter 3: The Movement
On December 1, 1955 in
Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks
was sitting in the eleventh row of
the bus. This was the first row of the
designated “colored” section of the
public buses. The White section of
the bus had filled up, and being in
the front row of the black section,
her seat was one of the next
available. The bus driver, James
Blake, ordered Rosa to move back,
along with a few others who were
sitting in this row. Rosa Parks
refused to move from her seat.
To the right, you will see my
arrest records as well of a mug
shot of me.
The bus driver, James Blake, proceeded to have Rosa arrested. When
asked by the bus officer why she didn’t stand up she responded, “I
didn’t think I should have to. Why do they push us around?” The
arresting officer hesitantly replied, “I don’t know, but the law is the
law, and you are under arrest.” The bus driver proceeded to finish his
normal route before traveling to City Hall to sign a warrant against
Rosa Parks.
Her arrest did not go unnoticed. The arrest was
published in the newspaper and immediately led
to a large boycott of all public busses. The night
of her arrest E.D. Nixon called several ministers
and meetings were set up at local churches where
the crowds of people that were involved with the
boycott were able to meet. The Southern
Christian Leadership Council and the leaders of
the boycott decided to file a lawsuit and everyone
continued to walk to work in support of Rosa
Parks. The decision was made to continue to
walk until the group saw that changes for the
better were made for all people involved.
To my right is a photo of me
having my finger prints
recorded.
On December 5th, the Montgomery Improvement Association was
formed and Dr. Martin Luther King became very prominent in the
movement. He was chosen as a spokesman and the President of the
Association. Over a year later on December 20, 1956 the Supreme
Court issued that the desegregation of the buses in Alabama were
unconstitutional. It took over a year of work to win this battle, but the
Civil Rights Movement did not stop there. They recognized that this
was a big win but knew that there was a lot more work to be done.
Rosa Parks did not stay in Alabama; she moved to Detroit in 1957
when the segregation problems did not stop. She had to board up
her house and death threats were common. She felt guilty that
she put her family in this kind of danger, which led to them
moving to Detroit to escape these threats. She became the
administrative aide in the Detroit Office of Congressman John
Conyers Jr.
I was forced to leave my home because of my
activism. Can you think of any present day
situations in which people were punished for
standing up for what they believed in?
Chapter 4: Awards
Rosa Parks did a lot for the
minority population in the
20th century and was
accordingly awarded for her
actions. She was awarded
five different honors after
she had helped with
desegregation in the 1900s.
This first award was from the NAACP called the Spingarn Medal
which was awarded to her in 1979. The Spingarn Medal is
awarded to an American Negro for the highest or noblest
achievement in the prior year(s).
Second, she was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Award in 1980.
This award is given to a person or group that works in the United
States in the belief of Martin Luther King Jr.
The third award was a medal given to Rosa Parks by the president,
Bill Clinton, on September 9, 1996. The award was the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest honor given
by the United States executive branch given to a civilian in
peacetime.
Award number four was the Congressional Gold Medal which is the
highest award that is given by the United States legislative branch in
expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements
and contributions. This award was given to Rosa Parks on May 4th of
1999.
The final award was in 1999 when TIME magazine named Rosa
Parks on the list of “The 20 most influential People of the 20th
Century”.
While Rosa Parks was living
in Detroit, Nelson Mandela
came to visit the city and
insisted on meeting her
while he was there. They
met in 1990, and Mandela
said that Parks was more
interesting in person than in
legend.
Mandela and Parks
connected because of their
passion for the movement of
desegregation and equal
rights.
Nelson Mandela
was an activist in
Africa around
the same time I
was in the
United States.
You can find information any many
websites and in many books but in
1992 Rosa Park’s self-written
autobiography was published. This
book was titled My Story and gives
her perspective of her life from her
childhood living with her
grandparents to becoming a
recognizable person of honor. She
also published a memoir titled Quiet
Strength in 1995 which reveals her
insights, dreams, and reflections on
a variety of themes--her Christian
faith, race relations, today's youth,
her vision for the future, and much
more.
Rosa Parks died in 2005 and became the first official woman to lie
in honor at the Capitol Rotunda which is the symbolic and physical
heart of the Capitol.
Glossary
Montgomery Industrial School for Girls
More commonly known as Miss White’s School for Girls, this was a private K-8
school for African American girls established in 1886 in Montgomery, Alabama.
The goal of the school was to provide young African American girls a wellrounded education for a future of becoming teachers.
Alabama State Teacher’s College
This college was established after the Alabama State Normal School, where Rosa
went for some of her early education, and was the first state-supported educational
institution for blacks.
KKK
The Ku Klux Klan became an organization after the Civil War and was active for
several years mainly taking over the southern half of the country and aimed at
suppressing the new freedom of African Americans. The KKK was responsible for
most of the violence and deaths that happened during the time leading up to,
during, and even after the Civil Rights Movement.
Lynching
a method of punishment used, especially by hanging, without legal authority
Jim Crow Laws
The list of state laws made discriminating against the African American
population. (“separate but equal; separate bathrooms, bus and restaurant
seating, drinking fountains, schooling, etc.)
Segregation
A separation of people or things from others or from the main body or group
Discrimination
Making a distinction in favor of or against a person or thing based on the
group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on
individual merit
Indictment
A formal accusation initiating a criminal case, presented by a grand jury and
usually required for felonies and other serious crimes; any charge, accusation,
serious criticism, or cause for blame.
Seamstress
A woman whose occupation is sewing
Integration
An act or instance of combining into a whole
Virginia Durr
A white woman and a civil rights activist, born and raised in Birmingham,
Alabama. She and her husband, Clifford, were both activists. Rosa actually
worked for Mrs. Durr as a seamstress in the beginning of their acquaintance.
Virginia Durr was the one to convince Rosa to go Highlander Folks School.
Boycott
To abstain, or refuse, buying or using as a means of intimidating or stopping
Montgomery Improvement Association
The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed on December
5, 1955 by black ministers and community leaders in Montgomery, Alabama.
It was led by Martin Luther King, Jr. with the focus on ending racial
segregation and was the guide for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Bibliography
“Rosa Parks." Newsmakers. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Biography in Context.
History.com Staff. (2009, January 1). Rosa Parks.
Dreier, Peter. "Rosa Parks: Angry, Not Tired." Dissent. Winter 2006.
Johnson, B. (2012). Rosa Parks and the bus to freedom. West Berlin, N.J.: Townsend Press.
Parks, R., & Haskins, J. (1992). Rosa Parks: My story. New York: Dial Books.
Rosa Parks Interview (page: 3 / 3). (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2015, from
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0int-3
Remember Them. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2015, from http://www.rememberthem.org/parks.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_brown.html
Bibliography Continued
Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com
Harmon, D. (2007). Montgomery Industrial School for Girls. In Encyclopedia of
Alabama. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1162
Montgomery Improvement Association. (n.d.). In King Institute Home. Retrieved from
http://mlkkpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_montgomery_i
mprovement_association/
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About the Authors
Kaley Burch was born in Santa
Claus, Indiana. She is now a
sophomore at Purdue University
majoring in Elementary and Special
Education. Her favorite food is
burritos and she loves the color
blue. Her favorite things to do are
reading, playing guitar, eating, and
singing! Her dream is to take a trip
to Italy and Greece, and to own two
massive, but lovable dogs!
Ashley Lynch grew up in Harmon, Oklahoma and in Lansing, IL.
She is double majoring in Elementary Education and Special
Education at Purdue University where she is a Junior. When she
was young she enjoyed working with her grandfather on farm
equipment and dressing up. She now enjoys to coach and visit her
grandparents. Ashley looks forward to having her own classroom
because she enjoys watching students grow over time in their
knowledge and would like to make a difference in her student’s
lives.
Sydney Toschlog was born in
West Lafayette, Indiana moved
to Noblesville, Indiana at the
age of two. She is now attending
Purdue University and majoring
in Elementary Education. She
enjoys reading and looks
forward to sharing her love of
literature with her future
students.
Allison Osborne is a sophomore at Purdue University majoring in
Elementary Education with a minor in Art & Design. She grew up in
Westfield, IN where she raised pygmy goats and loved being with her
family. In just a few short years, she will be teaching in her own
classroom where she is looking forward to decorating and making
amazing lesson plans for her students. One day she hopes to have her
own art class, be married, and living wherever life takes her!