Rosa Parks, the civil rights activist who refused to give up her bus seat to a white person and became the face of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, graduated from college in December of 1955.
She had been attending Alabama State College, an all-black institution in Montgomery.
Rosa Parks was one of only a handful of African Americans to graduate from college at that time.
Her graduation came just a few months after she was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person.
This significant event for both Rosa Parks and the civil rights movement occurred at a time when black people were not allowed to attend most colleges or universities in America.
After graduation, Rosa Parks continued to work for the civil rights movement, helping to organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott. She also became active in the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), working tirelessly throughout her life to register black voters and make sure they could exercise their rights as citizens of this country.
In later years, Rosa Parks wrote an autobiography and received many awards for her contributions.
