January 7, 2022

ROSA PARKS MUSEUM

252 Mongtomery St, Montgomery, AL 36104

“The Rosa Parks Museum is located on the Troy University at Montgomery satellite campus, in Montgomery, Alabama. It has information, exhibits, and some artifacts from the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott.” Wikipedia

My visit to the museum started with a “ride” on the Cleveland Avenue Time Machine.  I stepped onto a recreation of a 1955 public bus which took me on journey through time highlighting different events and actions in American history setting the stage for Rosa Parks’ refusal to move from her bus seat in 1955.  From Jim Crow minstrels to the Dred Scott decision to Plessy v Ferguson and more, all giving context to the world Parks was living in.  Admission to the Time Machine is separate from admission to the museum, one could skip the Time Machine and still get the full impact of the museum, but for me it helped get my mind in focus for what was to come.

The main museum starts with a 10-minute video featuring interviews with people who experienced or had some connection to Rosa Parks and/or the Montgomery bus boycott which resulted from Parks’ arrest for refusing to give up her seat to a white person. Next, you enter a theater and witness a reenactment of Parks’ arrest.  This multi-media is well done and gives you the feeling of sitting outside the bus watching what is going on inside.   When the reenactment is completed you wander through the hall where written panels, along with videos and dioramas, tell the story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted for 13-months following Parks’ arrest, and essentially started the Civil Rights Movement.

The museum was very informative without being preachy.  I came away with more knowledge and a deeper appreciation of the struggles people have experienced in the fight for equality. 

To my dismay, photography was not allowed inside the museum.