Rosa Parks: The Woman behind the movement (jan 1, 1954 – dec 31, 1968)
Description:
- * 04.02.1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama as Rosa Louise McCauley- daughter of James McCauley (carpenter and stonemason) and Leona Edwards (teacher)
- lived much of her childhood with her maternal grandparents in Pine Level (Montgomery County)
- went to a segregated school
- age 11: Parks enrolled in the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls
→ because of family illnesses forced to quit school at 16
- began cleaning houses for white families.
- 1922: marriage with Raymond Parks (barber from Wedowee, Alabama)
- early 1940s: became actively involved with the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
- serving as its secretary and teaching young people about their civil rights
- 1944: first encounter with bus driver James Blake
→ after paying her fare, Blake ordered Parks to board from the back of the bus
When she walked to the rear door, Blake drove away, leaving her behind
- summer of 1955: workshop at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee
→ learning about strategies for protesting segregation
- training would prove invaluable soon after
→ Parks was a trained activist with a long history of civil rights work
The Arrest
- 01.12.1955 -> leads to the start of her political "career"
Added to timeline:
Date:
jan 1, 1954
dec 31, 1968
~ 15 years