Off the Bus
Just recently, the Montgomery, Alabama bus on which Rosa Parks is believed to have refused to give up her seat to a white man in 1955 arrived at the Henry Ford Musuem in Dearborn, Michigan. The museum's curator of political history, Bill Pretzer, calls it "one of the most important artifacts of 20th century America."
At the time, Rosa Parks was fined $10.00 for violating a city ordinance enforcing transportation segregation. Her arrest set off a boycott of the city bus system, helped forge the face of the civil rights movement at the time, and lauched Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. into the public eye.