Mother of The Civil Rights Movement Rosa Parks Mother of The Civil Rights Movement By Madeline Haynes

Picture taken at the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama.

In 1955, when my grandmother was ten years old, she went to visit cousins in Stone Mountain, Georgia. They wanted to go see a “picture show” in Atlanta and had to ride a bus to get there. My grandmother, who came from a small, rural town in South Carolina had never ridden on a city bus before. Back in South Carolina, her closest playmates were the children of Curly Moore, a black man who helped her daddy get the fields ready for planting every year in the spring. When her mother fixed dinner and called for the men to come eat, Mr. Moore would tell her daddy, “I’ll just wait for you out here while you eat Mr. Mack.” Her daddy would reply, “If you’re good enough to walk beside me in the field, you’re good enough to put your feet under my table and eat with me.” So, she had learned fairness and kindness for all people by her daddy’s example and when black people were treated unfairly on the bus that day in Atlanta, my grandmother was sad and confused. Little did she know that a woman named Rosa Parks was about to set about a chain of events that would change the future of all races forever.

This is my grandmother, Pat Bradley, when she was seven years old. This is my grandmother’s daddy standing beside his plow mule Dolly.

Curly Moore’s family with my grandmother, Pat Bradley.

Rosa Louise McCauley was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama Rosa Louise McCauley was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her mother was a school teacher and her father was a carpenter and house builder.

Rosa Parks Experiences Segregation Growing Up Rosa and Sylvester, her brother, went to a school for black children that only had one room. White children went to a bigger and better school. White children had a bus to take them to school, but there was no bus for the black children. Black children had to walk to school. Sometimes the white children on the bus would throw out trash and laugh at the black children walking to school.

As A Child, Rosa Was Brave And Stood Up For Herself When Rosa was ten years old, she stood up to a white boy named Franklin who was always picking on her and Sylvester. She picked up a brick and threatened to hit him with it because he tried to hit Sylvester. The white boy backed up and looked around for someone to help him. This made Rosa feel powerful and strong. When she got home and told her story, she got in trouble. Instead of being proud of her, her grandmother and mother were unhappy with her for being disrespectful to the white boy. This is when Rosa learned how unfair life was for black people and decided that she didn’t like it.

Rosa’s Feelings About Racism Rosa refused to use segregated water fountains. Rosa chose to take the stairs instead of using segregated elevators. Rosa believed all people were children of God so racism was un-Christian. Rosa believed racism was un-American because the Constitution says all people should be treated equally. Rosa believed racism was silly because even her light skinned grandfather had been thrown out of a political meeting for blacks because they said he was too white.

Rosa McCauley married Raymond Parks, a barber, in December of 1932.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is an organization that works to end unfair treatment of African Americans and others. Raymond Parks was a member of the NAACP for many years before marrying Rosa. Rosa Parks joined the NAACP after she married Raymond. At her first NAACP meeting, Rosa was the only woman there and she was elected to be the secretary of the Montgomery chapter.

Rosa Parks Gets Arrested On December 1,1955, Rosa was coming home from her job at a department store. She got on a crowded bus and sat down in the middle section, which was ok for black people to do as long as no white people were standing. At the next stop, more white people got on the bus and had to move to the middle section. The bus driver told four African Americans in Rosa’s row to get up and move to the back. They all moved except Rosa. The bus driver called the police and Rosa was arrested.

Bus Boycott of Montgomery, Alabama Rosa Park’s decision not to give up her seat on the bus and her arrest caused all black people in Montgomery to refuse to ride the city busses. The bus boycott lasted for 381 days. The case was taken all the way to the Supreme Court of The United States. No longer did black people have to give up their seats on busses to white people. Black people had won this battle in the fight for civil rights.

The Rosa Parks Museum In December 2005, I visited the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama with my family. I saw a reenactment of the day Rosa Parks was arrested. The museum was built to show people what Rosa Parks and other black people experienced and to honor her memory. At the museum, I learned that Rosa Parks cared for other people and not just herself.

Pictures from my visit to the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, AL

This is me sitting beside a statue of Rosa Parks on a bus seat. This is me standing in front of a quilt about Rosa Parks’ life that was on display at the museum.

A tri-fold on display in the gift shop at the museum. The Alabama Historical Commission presented this exhibit “381 Days, The Montgomery Bus Boycott Story “ at the Rosa Parks Museum from December 2, 2005 to January 14, 2006. A tri-fold on display in the gift shop at the museum.

Rosa Parks died on October 24, 2005 at the age of 92 Rosa Parks died on October 24, 2005 at the age of 92. She will always be remembered as a woman of quiet strength, faith, dignity, and love.

Bibliography A Picture Book of Rosa Parks by: David Adler, illustrated by: Robert Casilla I Am Rosa Parks by: Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins, illustrated by: Wil Clay Rosa Parks Young Rebel by: Kathleen Kudlinski, illustrated by: Meryl Henderson Rosa Parks by: Kenneth C. Davis