Library of Congress and Sponsoring Body Library Of Congress. Manuscript Division. Rosa Parks Collection: Telling Her Story at the Library of Congress. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. 2016, Feb. 4. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021690014/
This video highlights not only some of the unique and valuable pieces in the Rosa Parks collection but also Rosa Parks herself: her words, her actions, her beliefs, and her life beyond the Montgomery bus boycott. She was an activist and a leader, and this video clearly shows her strength and determination. The speakers in the video talk about how a collection is curated and preserved, which can help students better understand the nature of primary sources and the care with which they are handled—and the importance of preserving these pieces of history.
This is an event video introducing the Rosa Parks collection at the Library of Congress. Throughout the video, her autobiographical writings and letters are shown along with many photos and other keepsakes from her collection. Also, the video shows the restoration of some of the items, like her Bible, and how other items have been preserved. The video discusses Parks’s life, her activism, her employment, her writing, and the honors she has received. This video contains highlights from the collection and a look behind the scenes at how the Library's team of experts in cataloging, preservation, digitization, exhibition, and teacher training are making the legacy of Rosa Parks available to the world.
Rosa Parks was a seminal figure of the Civil Rights Movement. The Rosa Parks Collection reveals how deeply she believed in a moral imperative to oppose discrimination and the denial of individual rights. That belief most famously resulted in her decision to challenge the bus segregation laws in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. Rosa Parks was awarded both a Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- Many textbooks portray Rosa Parks as “a seamstress who was tired and refused to move” instead of an activist. Why had her story been framed that way?
- Which of the pieces in the Rosa Parks collection were you most surprised by? Which piece interested you the most?
- Rosa Parks kept meticulous notes and all of her letters and correspondence throughout her life. How has our shift to digital communications changed what we preserve for future generations?
Michigan K–12 Social Studies
P1.2: Interpret primary and secondary source documents for point of view, context, bias, and frame of reference or perspective.
- Students can analyze Rosa Parks’ own writings about the Montgomery bus boycott and compare them with news coverage at the time.
P2.1: Apply methods of inquiry, including asking and answering compelling and supporting questions, to investigate social science problems.
- Addressing the guiding question related to how Rosa Parks has been portrayed, students can investigate the various tellings of the Rosa Parks story and question why she has been described as “a tired seamstress” instead of a social activist. What implications are there for the ways media portrays civil unrest? How and why might media present modern protests as peaceful or as a riot?
P4.3: Plan, conduct, and evaluate the effectiveness of activities intended to advance views on matters of public policy and to address local, regional, or global problems.
- Students can research the Montgomery bus boycott and segregationist policies and make connections to the Black Lives Matter movement and racial disparities in policing, addressing both the “defund” and “re-fund” the police policies.
- In a United States history course, The Rosa Parks Collection Event Video would pair with lessons on Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and other prominent civil rights leaders. This would allow students to see and understand that women were not just wives and secretaries during the Civil Rights Movement; they were also activists and leaders.
- In a high school English class or social studies class, pairing The Rosa Parks Collection Event Video with Chimamanda Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” TEDTalk would promote thought and discussion on what stories from history our nation holds onto and what pieces get left behind. Lies My Teacher Told Me (James L. Loewen, 2007) also offers excellent commentary on various moments throughout history that we as a nation have chosen to reframe in order to preserve a narrative. In this text, Rosa Parks is discussed on pages 26 and 192.
Portraying Rosa Parks as a rebel and activist instead of as a tired seamstress can contradict the beliefs that people may have about Rosa Parks and her actions. In addition, Mrs. Parks was working closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she had met with Malcolm X, and she also attended Communist party meetings with her husband, which some people may find unsettling or controversial.
- Curated primary source set of Rosa Parks materials from the collection: Rosa Parks | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress
- A shorter (six-minute) video that discusses Rosa Parks’s life and activism: Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words | Library of Congress
- A timeline of Rosa Parks’s life and work: Timeline | Articles and Essays | Rosa Parks Papers | Digital Collections | Library of Congress
- The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks Teaching Guide - Zinn Education Project: teaching guide with resources as a companion to the book and movie.
- Mrs. Parks and Black Power | The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks: a website by the author of The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks with photos and links to resources.
- A website with resources for the documentary, The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks: The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks | A Documentary
- The movie: Watch The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks Streaming Online | Peacock