H. Con. Res. 208
Agreed to November 18, 2005
One Hundred Ninth Congress
of the
United States of America 
AT THE FIRST SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 
the fourth day of January, two thousand and five 
Concurrent Resolution
Whereas most historians date the beginning of the modern-day 
Civil Rights Movement in the United States to December 1, 
1955;
Whereas December 1, 1955, is the date of Rosa Louise Parks’ 
refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man and her subsequent 
arrest;
Whereas Rosa Louise Parks was born on February 4, 1913, as 
Rosa Louise McCauley to James and Leona McCauley in 
Tuskegee, Alabama;
Whereas Rosa Louise Parks was educated in Pine Level, Alabama, 
until the age of 11, when she enrolled in the Montgomery Indus-
trial School for Girls and then went on to attend the Alabama 
State Teachers College’s High School; 
Whereas on December 18, 1932, Rosa Louise McCauley married 
Raymond Parks and the two settled in Montgomery, Alabama; 
Whereas, together, Raymond and Rosa Parks worked in the Mont-
gomery, Alabama, branch of the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where Raymond served 
as an active member and Rosa served as a secretary and youth 
leader; 
Whereas on December 1, 1955, Rosa Louise Parks was arrested 
for refusing to give up her seat in the ‘‘colored’’ section of the 
bus to a white man on the orders of the bus driver because 
the ‘‘white’’ section was full; 
Whereas the arrest of Rosa Louise Parks led African Americans 
and others to boycott the Montgomery city bus line until the 
buses in Montgomery were desegregated; 
Whereas the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott encouraged other 
courageous people across the United States to organize in protest 
and demand equal rights for all; 
Whereas the fearless acts of civil disobedience displayed by Rosa 
Louise Parks and others resulted in a legal action challenging 
Montgomery’s segregated public transportation system which sub-
sequently led to the United States Supreme Court, on November 
13, 1956, affirming a district court decision that held that Mont-
gomery segregation codes deny and deprive African Americans 
of the equal protection of the laws (352 U.S. 903); 
Whereas, in the years following the Montgomery bus boycott, Rosa 
Louise Parks moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1957, and continued 
her civil rights work through efforts that included working in
H. Con. Res. 208—2
the office of Congressman John Conyers, Jr., from 1965 until 
1988, and starting the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for 
Self Development, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) that motivates youth to 
reach their highest potential, in 1987; 
Whereas Rosa Louise Parks has been commended for her work 
in the realm of civil rights with such recognitions as the NAACP’s 
Springarn Medal in 1979, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Nonviolent 
Peace Prize in 1980, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996, 
and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999; and 
Whereas in 2005, the year marking the 50th anniversary of Rosa 
Louise Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on the bus, we recognize 
the courage, dignity, and determination displayed by Rosa Louise 
Parks as she confronted injustice and inequality: Now, therefore, 
be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concur-
ring), That the Congress—
(1) recognizes and celebrates the 50th anniversary of Rosa 
Louise Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on the bus and 
the subsequent desegregation of American society; 
(2) encourages the people of the United States to recognize 
and celebrate this anniversary and the subsequent legal vic-
tories that sought to eradicate segregation in all of American 
society; and 
(3) endeavors to work with the same courage, dignity, 
and determination exemplified by civil rights pioneer, Rosa 
Louise Parks, to address modern-day inequalities and injustice. 
Attest:
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Attest:
Secretary of the Senate.