IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 512 
Honoring the life and accomplishments of Rosa Parks and expressing 
condolences on her passing. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 26, 2005 
Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan (for herself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COOPER, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. LEE, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. 
MURPHY, Mr. HOLT, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. 
CAPUANO, Mr. VAN
HOLLEN, Ms. HARMAN, Ms. WATSON, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. HIGGINS, Ms. 
KAPTUR, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. EDDIE 
BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. HONDA, Mrs. JONES 
of Ohio, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 
ROTHMAN, Ms. BERKLEY, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. ROYBAL-AL-
LARD, Mr. CASE, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, 
Mr. DINGELL, Mr. FARR, and Ms. CARSON) submitted the following reso-
lution; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform 
RESOLUTION 
Honoring the life and accomplishments of Rosa Parks and 
expressing condolences on her passing. 
Whereas Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, as Rosa 
Louise McCauley, to James and Leona McCauley in 
Tuskegee, Alabama; 
Whereas her moral clarity and quiet dignity shaped and in-
spired the Civil Rights Movement in the United States 
over the last half-century;
•HRES 512 IH 
Whereas Rosa Parks was educated in Pine Level, Alabama, 
until the age of 11, when she enrolled in the Montgomery 
Industrial School for Girls and then went on to attend 
the Alabama State Teachers College High School; 
Whereas on December 18, 1932, Rosa Louise McCauley mar-
ried Raymond Parks and settled in Montgomery, Ala-
bama; 
Whereas together, Raymond and Rosa Parks worked in the 
Montgomery, Alabama, branch of the National Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 
where Raymond Parks served as an active member and 
Rosa Parks served as a secretary and youth leader; 
Whereas on December 1, 1955, Rosa 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 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 orga-
nize in protest and demand equal rights for all; 
Whereas most historians date the beginning of the modern- 
day Civil Rights Movement in the United States to De-
cember 1, 1955; 
Whereas the fearless acts of civil disobedience displayed by 
Rosa Louise Parks and others resulted in a legal action 
challenging Montgomery’s segregated public transpor-
tation system, which subsequently led to the United 
States Supreme Court, on November 13, 1956, affirming 
a district court decision that held that Montgomery seg-
•HRES 512 IH 
regation codes deny and deprive African Americans of the 
equal protection of the laws (352 U.S. 903); 
Whereas in 1957, Rosa Parks moved to Detroit, Michigan; 
Whereas in 1965, United States Representative John Conyers 
hired Rosa Parks as a member of his staff, where she 
worked in various administrative jobs for 23 years and 
retired in 1988 at age 75; 
Whereas Rosa Parks continued her civil rights work by start-
ing the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self De-
velopment in 1987, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) that motivates 
youth to reach their highest potential; 
Whereas the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self De-
velopment offers educational programs for young people 
including two signature programs: first, Pathways to 
Freedom, a 21-day program that introduces students to 
the Underground Railroad and the civil rights movement 
with a freedom ride across the United States and Can-
ada, tracing the underground railroad into civil rights 
and second, Learning Centers and Senior Citizens, a pro-
gram that partners young people with senior citizens 
where the young help the senior citizens develop their 
computer skills and senior citizens mentor the young; 
Whereas Rosa Parks has been commended for her work in 
the realm of civil rights with such recognitions as the 
NAACP’s Spingarn Medal, the Martin Luther King, Jr., 
Nonviolent Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Free-
dom, and the Congressional Gold Medal; 
Whereas Time magazine named Rosa Parks one of the ‘‘100 
most influential people of the 20th century’’, The Henry 
Ford Museum in Michigan bought and exhibited the bus
•HRES 512 IH 
on which she was arrested, and the Rosa Parks Library 
and Museum opened in Montgomery in 2000; 
Whereas in 2005, the year marking the 50th anniversary of 
Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on the bus, we 
recognize the courage, dignity, and determination dis-
played by Rosa Louise Parks as she confronted injustice 
and inequality; and 
Whereas in 1988 Rosa Parks said: ‘‘I am leaving this legacy 
to all of you. . . to bring peace, justice, equality, love 
and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vi-
sion, the people will perish, and without courage and in-
spiration, dreams will die—the dream of freedom and 
peace.’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives honors 
the life and accomplishments of Rosa Parks and expresses 
its condolences on her passing. 
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