Atlanta celebrates Rosa Parks' 111th birthday with special events
Rosa Parks seated toward the front of the bus, Montgomery, Alabama, 1956. (Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images)
ATLANTA - Black History Month in Atlanta is off to an exciting start with a series of events celebrating what would be the 111th birthday of Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks.
On Dec. 1, 1955, Parks was ordered to give up her seat in the "colored" section of a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white man, and she refused. Her act of defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott in which people refused to ride the city bus, costing the city thousands per day.
The boycott only ended after segregation on public buses was declared unconstitutional in 1956 by the Supreme Court.
Metro Atlanta Rosa Parks' 111th Birthday Celebrations
Elected Officials' Luncheon Launch/News Conference
11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Feb. 1
Atlanta City Hall, 55 Trinity Avenue SW, Atlanta
Rosa Parks Birthday Party Student Invitational and Voter Empowerment Session
12 p.m. - 3 p.m. Feb. 3
St. Paul AME Church; 1540 Pryor Road SW, Atlanta
DETROIT, UNITED STATES: United States Vice President Al Gore (L) presents Rosa Parks the Congessional Medal of Honor at a ceremony 28 Noember 1999 in Detroit, MI. Mrs. Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama in December of 1955 for refusing to give
Worship Recognition Service/Petition-Signing
10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Feb. 4
Ebenezer Baptist Church; 101 Jackson Street NE, Atlanta
Rosa Parks Day
12 p.m. - 2 p.m. Feb. 5
Georgia State Capitol; 206 Washington Street SW, Atlanta
When is Rosa Parks' birthday?
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born on Feb. 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She was 42-year-old when she refused to give up her seat, jumpstarting the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
She died of natural causes at age 92 on Oct. 24, 2005 in Detroit, Michigan.