During these times in the South, black and white people were segregated in nearly all aspects of daily life. This included public transportation as the industry complied with the Jim Crow laws mandated by lawmakers. Providing different vehicles for both black and white transit passengers, the industry enacted special seating policies that created a special section in the front of the bus for white passengers, and required black passengers to sit in the back of the bus and to give up their seat for a white passenger.

By 1944, Rosa Parks had become an active member of the Civil Rights Movement, and had joined the Montgomery, Alabama chapter of the NAACP. In January of 1944 Parks was elected to the position of volunteer secretary to Edgar Nixon, local president of the NAACP chapter - a position that she held through 1957. Parks and her husband were also active members of the Voters' League.

In 1945, Rosa Parks held a brief job at Maxwell Air Force Base - a federally owned facility that prohibited racial segregation. Furthermore, this job allowed her to be hired as a housekeeper by a white couple - Clifford and Virginia Durr. The Durr's were active in politics and spotted Rosa Parks on the Air Force Base. After a few years as a housekeeper they became friends with Rosa Parks and sponsored her at the Highlander Folk School - which was a education center for workers' rights and racial equality located in Monteagle, Tennessee for the summer of 1955.

Public transportation services were still segregated under Jim Crow laws during this time. In Montgomery, the first four rows of seats were reserved for white people, and black passengers were required to sit in the back of the bus. However these were not fixed sections - they were based on the amount of white people on the bus. Should the section in the front of the bus reserved for white passengers only fill to capacity, the bus driver would simply move the "Colored" sign that designated the section reserved for white people back another row to accommodate the increased number of white passengers. If a black person was seated in this row, they must move back another row or get off the bus.

Jim Crow laws actually placed more requirements on public transportation than segregated seating. If a white person was seated on the bus, and a black person would attempt to board, they would need to pay the fare, get off the bus, and enter via the back door of the bus. Many times drivers left passengers on their way to the back door - even after a fare was paid.

After attending the Highlander Folk School during the summer of 1955, Parks returned to Montgomery, Alabama and found a job at the Montgomery Fair department store. On Thursday, December 1, 1955 she boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus at around 6 p.m. and sat in the first row of the designated "Colored" section - which was in the middle of the bus. As the driver, James Blake, continued on his route and picked up more passengers, he noticed that two white men were standing and did not have seats on the bus. Following the practices of the time, Blake pulled the bus over and moved the sign behind Parks and demanded that she and the other three black passengers sitting in the row move to a different seat farther back on the bus.

This was not Rosa Park's first incident with bus driver James Blake. Twelve years earlier, in 1943, Blake demanded that Parks get off the bus and reenter through the back door. As Parks attempted to exit the bus, she dropped an item she was carrying and sat down for a moment to pick it up off the floor. This enraged Blake, who left her to walk home more than five miles in the rain.

Once Blake moved the "Colored" section sign to the row behind Parks, the three black passengers sitting in the row moved to different seating on the bus. Parks moved as well, only from the seat nearest the aisle over to a window seat. Blake said to Parks "Why don't you stand up?" and Parks responded "I don't think I should have to stand up." A few moments later when Blake noted that Parks was not going to move to the newly repositioned "Colored" section, he asked Parks again if she was going to stand up. Parks responded saying "No I'm not." Blake then said "Well, if you don't stand up, I'm going to have to call the police and have you arrested." "You may do that" responded Parks.

Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus, she was charged with a violation of Chapter 6, Section 11 segregation law of the Montgomery City code, even though at the time she sat down - she was in the "Colored" section. E.D. Nixon and Clifford Durr bailed Parks out of jail that evening. On December 5, 1955 Parks was tried on charges of disorderly conduct, and found guilty. She was fined $14.

Meanwhile, organizers of the Montgomery Bus Boycott used Sunday December 4th, 1955 to announce boycott plans at black churches throughout Montgomery. It was agreed to continue the boycott until black passengers could be treated with the same level of courtesy as white passengers, until black drivers were hired, and until seating in the middle of the bus was decided on a first-come-first-serve basis.

The boycott lasted 381 days, and was met with violence. Those in favor of segregation retaliated with terrorism and burned churches, and other areas important to the black community. Martin Luther King Jr's home was bombed early in the morning of January 30, 1956. The boycott sparked many protests and sent Martin Luther King to the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement.

Parks later moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1957 where she worked as a seamstress until 1965 when United States Representative John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, hired her as a secretary and receptionist for his congressional office in Detroit. She also served as a member of the Board of Advocates of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

In October of 2001 the Henry Ford Museum purchased the bus, Montgomery City Lines Bus #2857. After restoration, the bus is on display at the museum.

Parks remained in Detroit, Michigan until she passed away on October 24th 2005. She was 92. On October 27th 2005, the United States Senate passed a resolution to honor Parks by allowing her body to lie in honor in the United States Capital Rotunda. Parks was the 31st person, and the first woman, to receive this honor. On October 30th 2005 President George W Bush issued a Proclamation ordering that all flags on United States public areas be flown at half staff.

Back in Detroit Parks funeral, held November 2nd 2005, at the Greater Grace Temple Church lasted over seven hours, and featured many speakers. The funeral was televised throughout the world.

On December 1st, transit agencies throughout the country recognize "National Tribute to Rosa Parks Day"