Rosa Parks Museum Opening

M O N T G O M E R Y, Ala., Nov. 30 -- It was a cold evening 45 years agotoday when a Montgomery city bus stopped in front of the EmpireTheater. The driver got up and told black seamstress Rosa Parks shewould have to give up her seat for white passengers.

That event—which touched off the Montgomery bus boycott andbegan the modern civil rights movement — is recreated inside a newmuseum honoring Parks. The museum opens Friday on the site of theold theater.

Parks, now 87, will be in Montgomery on Friday when Troy StateUniversity Montgomery dedicates the Rosa Parks Library and Museum.

Joining Parks will be such civil rights figures as Martin LutherKing III, president of the Southern Christian LeadershipConference; former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young; the Rev. JesseJackson; poet Maya Angelou; and actress Cecily Tyson.

Reliving HistoryInside the museum, visitors will get a chance to see and feel alittle of what segregated Montgomery was like 45 years ago. Thehighlight of the museum is a bus that was used in Montgomery at thetime of Parks’ arrest.

Looking in the bus windows, visitors will see a video thatrecreates the famous conversation between Parks and the driver.

“Are you going to stand up?” the driver asked.

“No,” Park answered.

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“Well, by God, I’m going to have you arrested,” the driversaid.

“You may do that,” Parks responded.

Community leaders angered over her arrest launched a boycott ofMontgomery buses on Dec. 5, 1955. The protest lasted a year, liftedthe Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to national prominence and resultedin a Supreme Court ruling integrating public transportation.

Parking Lot Originally Planned

The university had originally planned to put a parking lot atthe site but changed its plans. University President CameronMartindale said the decision was prompted by the number of peoplewho stopped on that street corner to look at a historic markerabout Parks.