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A Picture Book of Rosa Parks
What I Learned Section 1 -- Answer
the Following Questions:
1. When was Rosa Parks born?
February 4, 1913. Rosa Parks was born Rosa McCauley in Tuskegee,
Alabama, on February 4, 1913. Her mother was named Leona Edwards
McCauley, and she was a school teacher. Her father was named James
McCauley, and he was a carpenter and house builder. Rosa also
had a younger brother named Sylvester. When Rosa was still a baby,
her family moved to Pine Level, Alabama, and lived on the farm
of Rosa's grandparents. In 1931, Rosa met Raymond Parks. Rosa
and Raymond were married in December, 1932, in Rosa's mother's
house. Rosa and Raymond lived in Montgomery, Alabama, where Rosa
was a seamstress for a department store.
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2. What year did Rosa
Parks finish high school?
1933. As a youngster, Rosa's mother taught her to read. When Rosa
was six years old, she attended first grade in a one-room school.
This school was only for African-American children, and it was
only open five months a year. (The school house for white children
was open nine months a year.) The schools for African-American
children in Pine Level, Alabama, only went to the sixth grade.
To continue her studies, Rosa moved to Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa
had to leave school to take care of her grandmother and mother
when they were ill. Rosa finished high school in 1933.
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3. What did Rosa Parks
do on December 1, 1955?
Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a Montgomery bus. In
the 1940's, Rosa had joined the NAACP, an organization to help
end discrimination against African-Americans. The public bus system
in Montgomery, Alabama, was just one example of how African-Americans
were discriminated against. African-Americans were only allowed
to sit in the back of the bus or they could sit in the middle
section as long as no white passengers were standing. Some bus
drivers made African-American passengers board the front of the
bus to pay, and then made them exit the bus to re-board through
the back door. Sometimes the buses would leave before the passengers
could re-board. This happened to Rosa in 1943. Bus segregation
continued. On Thursday, December 1, 1955, Rosa was sitting in
the middle section of a bus. When the bus began to fill up, the
driver told Rosa to move to the back of the bus. Rosa refused
to move and was arrested. This led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott
and the end of segregation on public buses.
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4. How long did the
Montgomery Bus Boycott last?
More than a year. On December 5, 1955, Rosa Parks went to court
for not moving to the back of the bus. She was found guilty and
fined ten dollars plus court costs. Her actions inspired African-Americans
to protest the segregation laws by boycotting the Montgomery bus
system. This boycott began on the day of Rosa's trial -- December
5, 1955. Martin Luther King, Jr., the new minister at the Dexter
Avenue Baptist Church, led the boycott and stated, "There comes
a time that people get tired. We are here this evening to say
to those who have mistreated us so long, that we are tired --
tired of being segregated and humiliated, tired of being kicked
about by the brutal feet of oppression." Almost a year later,
on November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled bus segregation
was illegal. Over a month later, on December 21, 1956, the Montgomery
Bus Boycott ended.
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5. What year did Rosa
Parks found the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development?
1987. In 1957, Rosa and Raymond moved to Detroit,
Michigan. In 1977, Raymond Parks died. Ten years later, Rosa founded
the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development to give
young people hope and to help them complete their education.
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6. True or False: Rosa
Parks has been called the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement."
True. The Civil Rights Movement helped make it illegal
for people to discriminate against other people based on their
race, color, religion, or nationality. Rosa Parks received many
honors for her work in Civil Rights, including the Spingarn Medal,
the Martin Luther King, Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize, the Eleanor
Roosevelt Woman of Courage Award, and the Presidential Medal of
Freedom. Also, Cleveland Avenue in Montgomery, Alabama, (the street
where Rosa boarded the bus on December 1, 1955) was renamed Rosa
Parks Boulevard. Did you know
Rosa was a guest at the 1999 State of the Union Address and sat
next to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton? President Clinton introduced
Rosa by saying, "She's sitting down with the First Lady tonight,
and she may get up or not, as she chooses." Today, Rosa lives
in Detroit, Michigan. She is 89 years old.
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What I Learned Section 2 -- Define the
following words:
Boycott: To abstain from buying or using something as a
means of protest
Discriminate: To make a distinction
for or against a person on the basis of the group or class to
which the person belongs
Desegregation: The elimination
of racial segregation or separation in schools, restaurants, and
other public places
"Jim Crow" Laws: Laws segregating
or separating African-Americans and white people in public places
and on public transportation
NAACP: National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People; an organization working to
end the unfair treatment of African-Americans
Civil Rights Movement: The fight
for the rights of all people of all races to be treated as equals
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Bonus Questions (Answer 1 of the
Following Questions for Your FREE
Bookmark):
a. Describe how African-Americans were discriminated
against during Rosa Parks' life.
There were laws segregating African-Americans and white people.
There were separate schools, churches, hotels, theaters, restaurants,
drinking fountains, and other public places. There was separate
seating on buses, trains, streetcars, and other modes of public
transportation. African-American children did not have the same
opportunities in school as white children. The schools for African-Americans
were older and smaller. Sometimes the schools were only one-room
schools. Also, these schools were only open five months a year,
rather than nine months a year.
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b. What happened on
May 17, 1954?
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled school segregation was unconstitutional.
The case was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
Did you know Thurgood Marshall
was the lawyer arguing against segregation? He won the case. In
1967, Marshall was appointed Associate Justice of the United States
Supreme Court, making him the first African-American to serve
on the high court.
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c. What happened on
November 13, 1956?
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled bus segregation was unconstitutional.
This decision stated Alabama's state and local laws requiring
segregation on buses were unconstitutional. It helped end the
Montgomery Bus Boycott on December 21, 1956.
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d. Use five of the words
in Section 2 in a sentence.
Answers will vary. Here are sample sentences from our young readers:
 A boycott
is a nonviolent way to protest and voice your opinion.
I think it is wrong when people discriminate
against other people.
Supreme Court
desegregation decisions
allowed our schools to become integrated.
"Jim Crow" Laws kept
desgregation from occuring
in public places because they discriminated
against people based on race.
Rosa Parks was a member of the NAACP.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great leader of the Civil
Rights Movement.
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e. Have a parent or friend give you
a spelling test with EACH of the words in Section 2.
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More Valuable Information about Rosa
Parks:
Rosa and Raymond
Parks Institute for Self Development
National Women's
Hall of Fame: Rosa Parks
TIME
100: Heroes & Icons - Rosa Parks
The Troy
State University Montgomery: Rosa Parks Library & Museum
National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
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