Rosa Parks

Awards & Honours

Awards Won

Honours

Rankings

Covers

Records

Rosa Parks is one of the most honored private citizens in American history. She is one of only two private citizens to receive both the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her statue in the U.S. Capitol was the first full-length statue of an African American in that building. She was named to Time magazine's list of the 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century and has had numerous schools, transit centers, and highways named after her. Rosa Parks Day is observed in multiple states on February 4 and December 1.

AwardsRosa Parks received the nation's highest civilian honors: the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999. She also won the NAACP Spingarn Medal in 1979, the Martin Luther King Jr. Award in 1980, and the Eleanor Roosevelt Women of Courage Award in 1984. In 2013, a full-length statue of her was placed in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall.

Honours & Distinctions

Congressional Gold Medal

U.S. Congress·1999

One of only two private citizens to receive this honor.

Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Bill Clinton·1996

Nation's highest civilian honor.

Spingarn Medal

NAACP·1979

For outstanding achievement.

Statue in National Statuary Hall

U.S. Capitol·2013

First full-length statue of an African American in the Capitol.

Rosa Parks Library and Museum

Troy University·1998

Located in Montgomery, Alabama.

Rosa Parks Transit Center

City of Detroit·2008

Major transportation hub in Detroit.

Rankings & Lists

#1 in category

100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century

Time Magazine·1999

#Top 10

Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century

Gallup·1999

Magazine Covers

Time Magazine

June 14, 1999

Rosa Parks: Mother of the Civil Rights Movement

Jet Magazine

December 15, 1955

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Life Magazine

1956

Civil Rights Movement

Records & Feats

First woman to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda

Historic First·2005

Rosa Parks was the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, on October 30-31, 2005.

First full-length statue of an African American in the U.S. Capitol

Historic First·2013

A statue of Rosa Parks was dedicated in National Statuary Hall in 2013, the first full-length statue of an African American in the Capitol.