#8: Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks knew she was defying segregation, but she did not begin December 1, 1955 expecting to become one of the century’s defining historical figures. After refusing a Montgomery bus driver’s demand that she surrender her seat, police arrested her under the city’s segregation ordinances. Parks was fingerprinted, briefly jailed, and later convicted. The arrest triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped produce a federal court ruling against bus segregation. Yesterday’s municipal offender became tomorrow’s American icon.
