Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks is sometimes referred as the "Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement." She attended segregated schools and then enrolled in the Alabama State College, an all-black learning institute. Parks worked at various jobs such as a seamstress, a housekeeper, and a saleslady. In the 40's, Rosa helped as the NAACP chapter's youth adviser.  The white bus drivers would ask blacks to pay at the front of the bus and then step off and enter the back door to be seated at the back of the bus. The incident which Rosa Parks became famous for involved the bus driver asking her to please move to the back as a white woman needed to be seated. She refused to move to another seat and the driver had her arrested but she was let out on bond that evening. The NAACP had wanted a test case involving segregation of passengers on buses. A bus boycott was started the next day and that same day Rosa refused to pay her fine. In 1996, Rosa Parks was presented a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton, the highest honor a civilian can be given.