Photographer: Gene Herrick for the Associated Press
Description: This photograph shows Rosa Parks being fingerprinted after her arrest for her involvement in the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Date: February 22, 1956
Context and Things to Consider
- Note that this photograph was not taken on December 1, 1955, when Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to make way for a white passenger. The second arrest shown in the photograph in 1956 was for her role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- Think about the impact a citywide bus boycott might have on businesses and industries. What strategy did the bus boycott organizers aim to accomplish?
- Consider the significance of being arrested for organizing an economic boycott. What does this suggest about the effectiveness of the boycott on the city government of Montgomery, Alabama?
Rosa Parks is fingerprinted in Montgomery, Alabama, after being arrested for the second time on February 22, 1956. Parks's arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man on December 1, 1955, inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a prolonged action against the segregated Montgomery, Alabama, bus system by African American riders and their white supporters. In 1956, Parks and dozens of other African American residents of Montgomery were indicted for conspiring to interfere with lawful business by boycotting the city buses.
[Library of Congress]
Entry ID: 1508267
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