Highlights Archives
Rare Audio of Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
Taking a stand while sitting down, Rosa Parks became a household name when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man on a December evening in 1955. Arrested and fined for breaking the law, Parks' action inspired a 381-day boycott of buses in her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, that culminated in the 1956 Supreme Court decision that outlawed segregation on public transportation.
Many people believe that Parks' action triggered the civil rights movement, both nationwide and in Wisconsin. Parks herself, however, was the first to admit that her action was unplanned and that she was not the first African American to refuse to give up a seat on a Montgomery bus. Although tired and weary after a long day of work, Parks was more tired and more weary of the treatment that she and other black Americans received each and every day of their lives.
Prior to her arrest on December 1, 1955, Parks had worked quietly for many years to improve the lives of African Americans through her local chapter of the NAACP. She served as secretary of the NAACP and as an advisor to the NAACP Youth Council. Parks had also tried to register to vote on several occasions when it was still nearly impossible for an African American to do so.
After hearing of her arrest, friend and longtime civil rights leader E. D. Nixon was determined that, though Parks was not the first black person to receive unfair treatment, she would be the last. On December 5, 1955, African Americans throughout Montgomery, led by popular minister Martin Luther King Jr., united in protest to Parks' arrest and choose to walk, bicycle, and even ride mules to work rather than board a bus.
On November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that Montgomery's segregation laws were unconstitutional, ending the Montgomery bus boycott. Although the boycott would not have succeeded without the efforts of the city's 17,000 African Americans, no one could forget the brave woman who led the way.
Included here is a recording of Rosa Parks, made within a few months of her arrest, in which she discusses her arrest and, in conjunction with two ministers, the Rev. James Pierce and the Rev. Robert Graetz, the start of the bus boycott (MP3, 13MB). During the boycott, Graetz, a white minister of a predominately black church, had his house bombed; fortunately the family was out of town.
The recording is from the Highlander Research and Education Center Records, a training school of sorts for civil rights activists in the basics of organizing and nonviolence. Parks had attended workshops at Highlander before her arrest and continued her affiliation with Highlander for many years.
Parks' passing on October 24, 2005, reminds us of the power and influence one person and a single act can have on the course of national events.
:: Posted November 2, 2005
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