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Congressional Gold Medal.com |
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Congressional Gold Medal Recipient
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks Gore presents Parks with Congressional Gold Medal DETROIT (AP) - A packed house at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall stood up last night and paid tribute to the woman who refused to do just that more than 40 years ago. Months after she was honored by Congress as the mother of the civil rights movement, Rosa Parks received the
Congressional Gold Medal from Vice President Al Gore. "I believe in my heart that just as we honor you, Mrs. Parks, we still need your support," Gore said. "As we look at what she has done and what she is still doing, we need to honor her." Parks, 86, was lauded in June by the House and Senate leadership and President Clinton for an act of defiance. On Dec. 1, 1955, the seamstress, tired after a day's work in Montgomery, Ala., refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated city bus.
AP PHOTO
Rosa Parks receives the Congressional Gold Medal from Vice President Al Gore at a benefit tribute concert in her honor yesterday. Her arrest set off a lengthy bus boycott by thousands of blacks that lasted until about a year later when the Supreme Court declared Montgomery's bus segregation law unconstitutional and it was changed. The boycott was led by the
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., then a local minister. The medal ceremony was part of a benefit to raise money for a non-profit organization Parks created to promote racial and social harmony. The medal is the highest civilian award given by Congress. "I hope and pray that it will come and we will go into the world with freedom for everybody," Mrs. Parks said last night. Aretha Franklin performed following the ceremony. During the June ceremony in Washington, D.C., Parks was presented with an artist's drawing of the medal, which was not yet finished. "I thank God that she was not afraid," said Ruby Dee, a film actress, who co-hosted the event with husband Ossie Davis. U.S. Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Detroit) announced yesterday that Parks' organization, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, would be the recipient of $1 million in federal funds. Parks moved to Detroit in 1957 after losing the seamstress' job and her family was harassed and threatened. She joined the staff of U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) in 1965 and worked there until retiring in 1988. Lawmakers initially used the
Congressional Gold Medal to honor military leaders but began using it during the 20th century to recognize excellence in a range of fields, including the arts, athletics, politics, science and entertainment. The first such medal was given to
George Washington in 1776 for "wise and spirited conduct" during the Revolutionary War. More than 320 medals have been awarded. Recent honorees include
Frank Sinatra,
Mother Teresa and South African President
Nelson Mandela. 11-29-99 The Michigan Daily
Return to Rosa Parks Congressional Gold Medal Homepage
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