HARTFORD — The Connecticut Department of Transportation pulled out all the stops to honor the “First Lady of Civil Rights” on what would have been her 107th birthday.
An empty seat was left on a CTtransit bus Tuesday — reserved for Rosa Parks, who was born on this day in 1913.
Parks went on to become one of the most prominent faces of the Civil Rights Movement.
She is most famously known for her act that sparked the legendary Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped end racial segregation on public transit nationally.
On December 1, 1955, Parks was seated on the front row of a bus’ “colored section.”
A bus driver asked her and three other African-American riders to get out of their seats when a white man boarded the bus and those reserved for him were already filled.
The others moved. Parks refused and was arrested.
Her birthday is now acknowledged as Transit Equity Day.
On Parks’ reserved CTtransit seat, the CT DOT displayed a placard with the following:
“Each person must live their life as a model for others.” — Rosa Parks
This seat is reserved in honor of the late Rosa Parks, born in Alabama on February 4, 1913.
Rosa Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement bets known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott.
The CT DOT says her act affirmed that everyone has the right to equal access to public transit.
Officials ensured her legacy was felt in Connecticut, as she is remembered today across the country.
