Rosa Parks was a Civil Rights Activist. She is best known for not giving her her seat to a white man on a public bus. Learn more about Rosa Parks and her fight for equal rights with these Rosa Parks facts and quotes for kids! This article is easy to read and is a great resource for elementary school students.
Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913. Her full name was Rosa Louis McCauley Parks. Rosa’s mother Leona was a teacher and her father James was a carpenter. Rosa Parks ethnicity was African-American, Native American and Scots-Irish decent.
She attended Montgomery Industrial School for Girls and Alabama State Teachers College for Negros. At the age of 19 she married Raymond Parks. He worked as a barber. Rosa Parks worked as a seamstress at Montgomery Fair Department Store in Montgomery Alabama.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
On December 1 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the public bus to a white passenger. Her refusal to give up her seat played a big part in the Civil Rights Movement of that era.
Rosa Parks rode the bus daily back and forth to work. On December 1st she was riding home from work when she was asked to stand up so a white passenger can sit down. Rosa refused to give up her seat, she felt it wasn’t fair.
Because she would not give up her seat, she was arrested.
.On December 5, 1955 people protested her arrest by not using the public bus. It lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lead the boycott.
On December 8th Rosa Parks had a trial and was found guilty. She had to by a $10 fine plus a court fee of $4 for a total of $14.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 381 days an estimated 40,000 African-Americans stopped using the public bus.
Rosa Parks and her husband both lost their jobs during the boycott.
The boycott ended when the supreme court ruled that public buses could no longer be segregated. It was a victory in the fight for civil rights!
Civil Rights Activist
Rosa Parks became known at the “mother of the civil rights movement.”
Rosa Parks was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of colored people (NAACP).
She became a secretary and youth leader of the NAACP. In 1987 she received the NAACP Spingarn Medal.
In 1987 she and a friend founded Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. It’s purpose was to teach young people about the civil rights movement.
In 1992 Rosa Parks published a book about her life called My Story. In 1995 she published her memoirs called Quiet Strength.
Rosa Parks received the Medal of Freedom and 250th Congressional Gold Medal of Honor from President Bill Clinton in 1996. In 1999 She was one of Time Magazine’s 20 most Influential People of the 20th Century.
Rosa Parks died on October 24, 2005.
Her casket was brought to Washington where thousands of people went to pay their respects.
Rosa Parks Quotes for Kids
“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”
“I would like to be remembered as a person who wants to be free…so other people would also be free.”
“All I was doing was trying to get home from work.”
“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it’s right.”
“I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.”
“One person can change the world.”
“Each person must live their life as a model for others.”
“Without vision, people perish, and without courage and inspiration dreams die.”