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On this day in 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for breaching Montgomery, Alabama’s city segregation laws
December 1, 2022
An event every year that begins at 12:00 am on day 1 of December, repeating indefinitely
On this day in 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat on a public bus to a white man, a breach of city segregation laws. The incident resulted in a year-long boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama bus system and increased nationwide awareness of racial discrimination.
Nearly a year later, the boycott ended as the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Montgomery’s bus segregation laws as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case stood as an early victory in the civil rights movement and a testament to the power of civil disobedience.
Did you know? Parks was jailed again weeks later for arranging carpools during the boycott. A jury cited a state law against organized boycotting. The arrest brought more publicity to the boycott, however, as The New York Times ran a front-page photo of her being fingerprinted by police.
Rosa Parks being fingerprinted on February 22, 1956, Associated Press, February 22, 1956
