Encyclopedia article about Rosa Parks whose 1955 arrest in Montgomery for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and set in motion a chain of events that resulted in ground-breaking civil rights legislation and helped to bring Martin Luther King, Jr. to the forefront as the movement's leader. Parks continued to work for civil rights causes during her entire life and was awarded the nation's highest honors for her role in the movement.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata.

All rights reserved. By downloading, printing, or otherwise using text, image, logo, audio and video files from this Web site, users agree that they will limit their use of such files for purposes permitted under the fair use doctrine and will not violate EOA's or any other party's proprietary rights. Fair use of copyrighted material includes the use of protected materials for noncommercial educational purposes. EOA content used for such purposes does not require express permission from EOA or the Alabama Humanities Foundation, which holds the copyrights for EOA content. All other uses require written permission from the Alabama Humanities Foundation. Permission requests may be submitted by email to: editor@encyclopediaofalabama.org or by mail to: Encyclopedia of Alabama, Attn.: Permissions, R.B. Draughon Library, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849.

Forms part of the Encyclopedia of Alabama.