Bronze by Daub and Firmin Studios, LLC 2013 National Statuary Hall U.S. Capitol

Rosa Parks' statue was unveiled in National Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol, approximately 100 years after her birth on February 4, 1913.

Authorized by the Congress in 2005, the statue of Rosa Parks is historically significant as being the first full-length statue of an African American person in the U.S. Capitol. It is also the first statue commissioned by the Congress since 1873. It follows the bust of Martin Luther King Jr., also commissioned by the Congress, that was unveiled in 1986 and the bust of Sojourner Truth placed in 2009.

The statue depicts Rosa Parks wearing the same clothes she wore on the day she was arrested. Based on photographic research into what she was wearing the day on the bus, she is shown wearing a round brimless hat, glasses, a cloth coat over her dress, laced shoes and she holds the handle of her purse. She is seated on a rock-like formation of which she seems almost a part, symbolizing her famous refusal to give up her bus seat. Her upper body is slightly turned to the right. Her head is erect, her back is straight and both her hands and her ankles are crossed; this posture, along with the expression on her face, suggests inner strength, dignity, resolve and determination, all characteristic of her long-time commitment to working for civil rights.

The statue is close to nine feet tall including its pedestal. The bronze statue weighs 600 pounds and the granite pedestal, partially hollowed out inside, weighs 2,100 pounds. The pedestal is made of Raven Black granite and inscribed simply with her name and life dates, "Rosa Parks/1913–2005."

For more information on this statue and art in the U.S. Capitol, visit www.aoc.gov.

Reference: 20230119_Parks

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