Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. After her parents, separated when Rosa was two, Rosa’s mother moved the family to live with her parents. Both were former slaves and strong advocates for racial equality.

Taught to read by her mother at a young age, Rosa attended a segregated, one-room school in Pine Level, Alabama, that often lacked adequate school supplies such as desks. Rosa Parks' childhood brought her early experiences with racial discrimination and activism for racial equality, which set the stage for what would happen some 30 years later.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated Montgomery, Alabama bus, which spurred on the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott that helped launch nationwide efforts to end segregation of public facilities. Rosa’s movement sparked so much support that the city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. Rosa Parks received many accolades during her lifetime, including the NAACP's highest award.

In 1987, with longtime friend Elaine Eason Steele, Rosa founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. The organization runs "Pathways to Freedom" bus tours, introducing young people to important civil rights and Underground Railroad sites throughout the country.

On October 24, 2005, at the age of 92, Rosa Parks quietly died in her apartment pf dementia. The Detroit chapel which hosted her funeral service was renamed the Rosa L. Parks Freedom Chapel.