Rosa Parks Bus before Restoration, Destination Sign, March 2002

Artifact Overview

This bus, the site of Rosa Parks's stand against segregation laws, sat as a rusted storage shed before The Henry Ford acquired it and began a full restoration. Parks's act of defiance on December 1, 1955, sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which helped to ignite the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the restored bus survives as a reminder of her courageous activism.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Digital image

Subject Date

March 2002

Creators

Henry Ford (Organization). Photographic Department

Collection Title

Edison Institute Photographs

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

EI.1929.111

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Color

Multicolored

Keywords	United States, Michigan, Dearborn Digital images Buses Civil rights movements Civil rights leaders Museums Collections management Restoration (Process) Montgomery Bus Boycott, Montgomery, Ala., 1955-1956 Parks, Rosa, 1913-2005 Henry Ford (Organization) Montgomery City Bus Lines

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Rosa Parks Bus
Inside this bus on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a soft-spoken African-American seamstress, refused to give up her seat to a white man, breaking existing segregation laws. The flawless character and quiet strength she exhibited successfully ignited action in others. For this, many believe Rosa Parks's act was the event that sparked the Civil Rights movement.