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Born
Rosa Parks was born in Tuskeegee, AL, the daughter of farmers who also worked other jubs (carpenter, teacher). She was raised on her grandmother's farm in Pine Level, AL -
Left school at age 16
Rosa left school at age 16 to care for her ill grandmother. -
Married Raymond Parks
Mr. Parks was a barber and an anctive participant in the civil rights movement. -
Period: to
Member of NAACP
Became Secretary of the Montgomery, AL chapter of the NAACP (National Advancement of Colored People) by 1943. -
Period: to
Worked as seamstress and housekeeper
In the mid-1950s, Rosa was working as a seamstress at the Montgormery Fair department store and as a housekeeper for a white couple, Mr. and Mrs Durr. -
Refuses to give up seat on bus
Tired of segregation in Montgomery, Alabama (with black-only schools, water fountains, etc.), Rosa refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. There was not much I could do except struggle on. There were times when it would have been easy to fall apart or to go in the opposite direction, but somehow I felt that if I took one more step someone would come along to join me." -
Arrested and fined
Rosa was arrested and fined $14 and convicted of violating segregation laws. -
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organizes bus boycott
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Period: to
Segregation challenged in court
Rosa's lawyers used this opportunity to challenge the segregation laws in court. -
Supreme Court declared this segregation illegal
Buses in Montgomery were ordered to be desegregated. -
Period: to
Moved to VA, then Detroit, MI
Rosa moved with her husband and mother first to Virginia, then to Detroit, MI to escape persecution by foes in Montgomery. -
Period: to
Worked as aide to Congressman John Conyers
Congressman in Detroit. -
Received Presidential Medal of Freedom
from President Clinton -
Received Congressional Medal of Honor
from President Clinton and top law makers -
Died
at age 92 with no family and no money
