In October 2025, a statue of Rosa Parks was unveiled on the steps of Alabama's state Capitol building in Montgomery. The bronze casting of the late seamstress stands tall, striding forward, her coat billowing in the wind with a smile on her face. It stands between existing statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and J. Marion Sims , a doctor who gained fame as "the father of modern gynecology " by experimenting on slaves.

The new Parks monument is the latest step in a long, winding road of change amid shifting public recognition of history in Alabama's capital city.

Just 48 years ago, there were no statues that honored the woman known as the mother of the Civil Rights Movement, no museum in her name, not even a street name. Montgomery City Councilman Luther Oliver had hope

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