Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Emmett Till... Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement". Celebrate Rosa as she wanted to be remembered. "I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people."
1913Rosa Louis McCauley born in Tuskegee, Alabama
1931Rosa becomes highly active in defending the Scottsboro Boys
1932Rosa Louis McCauley weds Raymond Parks
1943Rosa joins NAACP
1943Forced off of segregated bus for accidentally sitting in seat reserved for whites
1944Took a job on the un-segregated Maxwell Air Force Base
1955(Dec. 1): Arrested for refusing to relinquish her seat to a white man
1955Beginning of Montgomery Bus Boycott
1956Browder v. Gayle filed in U.S. District Court
1956Segregation law ruled unconstitutional
1956End of Montgomery Bus Boycott
1957Left Montgomery, Alabama to seek work in Virginia
1957Left Virginia and moved to Detroit, Michigan
1964The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Passed, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson 7/2.
1965Hired by U.S. Representative John Conyers
1979Awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP
1980Awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Award by the NAACP
1983Inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame
1987Founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development
1988Retired from employment in office of Representative Conyers
1990Invited to be part of the welcoming party for Nelson Mandela
1992Awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award
1992Rosa Parks: My Story – Autobiography published
1994Attacked in her apartment by Joseph Skipper
1996Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton
1998Awarded the International Freedom Conductor Award by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
1999Awarded the Congressional Gold Medal
1999Awarded the Detroit-Windsor International Freedom Festival Freedom Award
1999Named by Time Magazine as one of the 20 most influential figures of the century
2000Awarded the Alabama Governor's Medal of Honor
2000Awarded the Alabama Academy Award
2000The Rosa Parks Library and Museum dedicated at Troy University in Montgomery, Alabama
2005Rosa Parks death from complications of progressive dementia
2005Rosa Parks' body allowed to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda
2006Statue of Rosa Parks placed in National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.