PRINTER'S NO. 1273
No. 193 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY A. WILLIAMS, ARMSTRONG, BOSCOLA, BRIGHTBILL, BROWNE, CONTI, CORMAN, COSTA, EARLL, ERICKSON, FERLO, FONTANA, FUMO, GORDNER, GREENLEAF, HUGHES, JUBELIRER, KASUNIC, KITCHEN, LAVALLE, LEMMOND, LOGAN, MADIGAN, MELLOW, MUSTO, O'PAKE, ORIE, PICCOLA, PILEGGI, PIPPY, PUNT, RAFFERTY, REGOLA, RHOADES, ROBBINS, SCARNATI, STACK, STOUT, TARTAGLIONE, THOMPSON, TOMLINSON, VANCE, WASHINGTON, WAUGH, WENGER, D. WHITE, M. WHITE, C. WILLIAMS, WONDERLING AND WOZNIAK, OCTOBER 25, 2005
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, OCTOBER 25, 2005
A RESOLUTION 1 Remembering Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, on the occasion of her 2 death on October 24, 2005, at 92 years of age, as the mother 3 of the civil rights movement. 4 WHEREAS, Born February 4, 1913, a granddaughter of former 5 slaves, Mrs. Parks grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, and attended 6 Alabama State College; and 7 WHEREAS, With her husband Raymond, Mrs. Parks was active in 8 the Montogomery chapter of the National Association for the 9 Advancement of Colored People; and 10 WHEREAS, Mrs. Parks worked as a tailor's assistant at 11 Montgomery Fair department store and as a seamstress for 12 Clifford and Virginia Durr; and 13 WHEREAS, On December 1, 1955, Mrs. Parks refused to give up 14 her bus seat to a white man on a segregated Montgomery bus; and 15 WHEREAS, Mrs. Parks' arrest for refusing to vacate her seat
1 sparked the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott and a court challenge 2 of the segregationist law; and 3 WHEREAS, In November 1956 the United States Supreme Court 4 declared that Alabama's state and local laws requiring 5 segregation on buses were illegal; and 6 WHEREAS, Mrs. Parks authored "Rosa Parks, My Story," "I am 7 Rosa Parks" and, with Gregory Reed, "Quiet Strength: The Faith, 8 the Hope, and the Heart of a Woman Who Changed A Nation"; and 9 WHEREAS, Mrs. Parks founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks 10 Institute for Self-Development in 1987; and 11 WHEREAS, Mrs. Parks worked in the Michigan office of United 12 States Representative John Conyers, Jr., until 1988; and 13 WHEREAS, In 1999 Mrs. Parks was blessed by Pope John Paul II 14 in St. Louis, Missouri, and received the Congressional Gold 15 Medal; and 16 WHEREAS, The Rosa Parks Library and Museum opened in 2000 at 17 the site of the former Empire Theater; and 18 WHEREAS, Martin Luther King, Jr., inscribed a copy of his 19 book "Stride Toward Freedom" to Mrs. Parks, whose creative 20 witness was the great force that led to the modern stride toward 21 freedom; therefore be it 22 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 23 remember Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, on the occasion of her 24 death on October 24, 2005, at 92 years of age, as the mother of 25 the civil rights movement; and be it further 26 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to 27 the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development, 28 Detroit, Michigan. J25L82SFL/20050S0193R1273 - 2 -