Rosa Parks Trivia Questions

She worked for Congressman John Conyers, co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, and continued advocating for civil rights into the 1990s.

Parks was a trained secretary and active in the Montgomery NAACP chapter, investigating sexual assault cases and working closely with E.D. Nixon, the chapter president.

She was seated in the 'colored' section, which was behind the whites-only seats. The driver moved the dividing line, demanding she give up her row to a white passenger.

Nine months before Parks, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin was arrested for the same act. Parks was chosen by the NAACP partly because her profile was more suitable for a test case.

In 2005, after her death, Parks became the first woman and second Black American to lie in honor in the Rotunda (not 'in state' because she was not a government official).

Raymond Parks was a barber and active in civil rights, but he was not a prominent public figure. He supported Rosa but mostly worked behind the scenes, often discouraged by the threats they faced.

She was booked under a city ordinance for refusing to obey the driver's orders, which was technically disorderly conduct. The segregation law itself was not cited in her arrest.

She was fined $10 plus $4 in court costs (about $110 today). The myth of a $100 fine likely comes from confusing it with later civil rights fines or inflation.