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4w ago

Nearly 2,000 Visit The Henry Ford for 70th Anniversary of Rosa Parks' Stand

The anniversary doubled as a push by historians to center Parks’ lifelong activism beyond the Montgomery bus.

Marchers walk past a statue of Rosa Parks during the Unity Walk for Peace and Justice in downtown Montgomery, Ala., on Monday evening December 1, 2025, the 70th anniversary of the arrest of Rosa Parks, which sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
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While activists like Rosa Parks (center) fought for racial justice during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, the fight for disability justice was also taking shape.
Rosa Parks' legacy continues to inspire and educate young people through efforts like her exhibit at the Library of Congress and the Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation for Michigan students.

Overview

  • The Dearborn museum waived admission on Dec. 1, drawing nearly 2,000 people to view the authenticated Montgomery city bus where Parks refused her seat in 1955.
  • Parks’ seat was reserved with a portrait and roses as visitors were asked not to sit there during the commemoration.
  • The Henry Ford confirmed the coach as bus No. 2857 in 2001 using a station manager’s scrapbook, outbid other bidders in an online auction, and oversaw a restoration exceeding $300,000 before first displaying it in 2003.
  • Parks’ arrest helped launch a 381-day boycott that concluded with the 1956 Browder v. Gayle ruling, which struck down segregated bus seating.
  • Scholars and the Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation emphasized her decades of work in Detroit on issues from open housing to sexual-violence cases, urging a fuller public understanding of her legacy.