Mrs. Parks, who was an active member of the local NAACP, quietly refused to give up her seat. Her action was spontaneous and not pre-meditated, although her previous civil rights involvement and strong sense of justice obviously inspired her. "When I made that decision," she said later, "I knew that I had the strength of my ancestors with me."

She was arrested and convicted of violating the laws of segregation, known as "Jim Crow laws." Mrs. Parks appealed her conviction and thus formally challenged the legality of segregation.

At the same time, local civil rights activists initiated a boycott of the Montgomery bus system. In cities across the South, segregated bus companies were daily reminders of the inequities of American society. Since African Americans made up about 75 percent of the riders in Montgomery, the boycott posed a serious economic threat to the company and a social threat to white rule in the city.

A group named the Montgomery Improvement Association, composed of local activists and ministers, organized the boycott. As their leader, they chose a young Baptist minister who was new to Montgomery: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sparked by Mrs. Parks' action, the boycott lasted 381 days, into December 1956 when the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the segregation law was un-Constitutional and the Montgomery busses were integrated.

The boycott had an immense impact. It gave African Americans a new sense of pride and a belief in their ability to influence their lives, attitudes sadly lacking before. It demonstrated to the entire nation that blacks could be self-disciplined, organized and steadfast. It drew international attention to the inequalities in American society. It brought Martin Luther King, Jr. to national prominence.

The 1955 Montgomery bus boycott was the beginning of an extraordinary time in American history. The boycott sparked numerous other protests against Jim Crow and thus signaled the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement. For her actions, Rosa Parks has been called "The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement." The story of her quiet courage in defense of liberty is taught to school children as early as the first grade and has made her an international symbol of the struggle for human rights.

And she made her stand by sitting on a mundane city bus.

HOW THE MUSEUM ACQUIRED THE BUS

In recent years, the curators at The Henry Ford have been seeking objects that represent social innovation as well as technological change. The staff had recognized that the Rosa Parks bus would be an extraordinary addition to this museum. Other museums felt the same way and had looked unsuccessfully for identification and documentation of the specific bus. The bus identification number was not recorded in any official documents when Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955, so years later no one was sure which bus it was.

When the company retired bus #2857 in the early 1970s, Roy H. Summerford of Montgomery bought it. At the time, company employees told him that it was the Rosa Parks bus. Mr. Summerford and his descendents kept the bus in a field and used it to store lumber and tools. When Mr. Summerford passed away the bus became the property of his daughter and son-in-law, Vivian and Donnie Williams. Although the Williamses knew that this had been identified as the Rosa Parks bus, they had no documents to prove the story.

Robert Lifson, President of Mastronet, an Internet auction house, decided he wanted to auction off the bus for Mr. and Mrs. Williams. He began a search for documents authenticating the bus. And he found them.

Montgomery bus station manager Charles H. Cummings had maintained a scrapbook of newspaper articles during the 1955-56 Montgomery bus boycott. Next to articles describing the arrest of Rosa Parks, he wrote "#2857" and "Blake/#2857." James Blake was the bus driver who had Rosa Parks arrested. The son and wife of Mr. Cummings, now deceased, confirm that he jotted down the bus number because he felt the events were so important.

Often, as in this case, historical truth is not officially recorded, but is passed along in private memoirs and oral tradition.

In September 2001, an article in the Wall Street Journal announced that the Rosa Parks bus would be available in an Internet auction in October.

Museum staff began researching this opportunity. They spoke to people involved in the original 1955 events, to those who planned other museum exhibits, and to historians. A forensic document examiner was hired to see if the scrapbook was authentic. A museum conservator went to Montgomery to personally examine the bus.

Convinced that this was the Rosa Parks bus, the museum's leadership decided to bid on the bus in the Internet auction.

The bidding began at $50,000 on October 25, 2001 and went until 2:00 AM the next morning. The museum had to bid $492,000 to outbid others, including the Smithsonian Institution and the City of Denver, who wanted the bus. At the same time, the museum bought the scrapbook and a Montgomery City Bus Lines driver's uniform.

At this point, the bus shows the wear and tear of 30 years in a field. The museum is deciding how-and how much-to have it restored.

As Martin Luther King, Jr., imagined, telling the Rosa Parks story with the authentic bus would be an extraordinary opportunity and responsibility:

DETAILS ON THE BUS

Made in 1948
General Motors Corp., Pontiac, Michigan
36 passengers
Diesel engine
Hydraulic transmission
Used in Terre Haute, Indiana, 1948-54
Used in Montgomery, Alabama, 1954-71
Sold as surplus to Roy H. Summerford, 1971
Purchased at auction by The Henry Ford, 2001
Acc. 2001.154.1

LEARN MORE ABOUT ROSA PARKS AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT