Mayor Bowser Unveils Rosa Parks Plaque at Ceremony (photos)
By • June 1, 2019 0 2267
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, 42 year old Rosa Parks ignored a bus driver’s demand to give up her seat in the “colored section” to a white passenger after the whites-only section was filled, inspiring the African American community to boycott Montgomery buses for over a year. It was the first major direct action campaign of the post-war civil rights movement. Parks has been called “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”.
Shortly after the boycott, Rosa Parks moved to Detroit where she continued to remain active in the civil rights movement. In February 1987 she co-founded, with Elaine Eason Steele, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.
For over a decade, Rosa Parks would stay at the O Street Mansion at 2020 O St NW as a guest whenever she visited Washington D.C. On Friday, May 31, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser participated at the unveiling of a Rosa Parks plaque designating the Mansion on O Street as a historic site and destination on the African American Heritage Trail. Elaine Steele; H.H. Leonards, founder and chairman of The Mansion on O Street; and D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans assisted in the unveiling.
View Jeff Malet’s photos from the unveiling ceremony by clicking on the photo icons below.
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- DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- (left to right) Elaine Eason Steele, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development co-founder with Rosa Parks; H.H. Leonards, founder and chairman of The Mansion on O Street; and Anita Estell, advisor to the Insititute. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Unveiling the plaque. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (2nd right), Elaine Eason Steele, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development co-founder with Rosa Parks (front left); H.H. Leonards, founder and chairman of The Mansion on O Street and D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans. Photo by Jeff Malet.
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- D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (2nd right), Elaine Eason Steele, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development co-founder with Rosa Parks ( left); H.H. Leonards, founder and chairman of The Mansion on O Street (2nd left) and D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- The plaque. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- In attendance (left to right in photo), Kishia Clemencia, Battalion Fire Chief; Police Officer Tiara Brown and Queen A. Anunay, Battalion Fire Chief Paramedic. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Mansion on O Street Board Members. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Paul Cohn (left) and D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Kimberly A. Bassett. Secretary of State, District of Columbia; Simone Frederick, wife of the President of Howard University; Jennifer L. Porter, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives (MOWPI); and Rosie Allen-Herring, President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Way of the National Capital Area. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- left to right, Carolyn Rudd, Chair-elect of the Chamber of Commerce, H.H. Leonards, founder and chairman of The Mansion on O Street; Kimberly A. Bassett. Secretary of State, District of Columbia; (unknown); Simone Frederick, wife of the President of Howard University; Jennifer L. Porter, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives (MOWPI); President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Way of the National Capital Area; Rosie Allen-Herring, President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Way of the National Capital Area; and Tiffany Green. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Museum board member John Dillon (left) with Ted Spero, President, the Mansion on O Street. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Rosa Parks would frequently entertain guests on this sofa in the Meditarranean Room, including heads of state. Behind are some of the books she loved to read. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- The Rosa Parks bedroom at the Mansion on O Street. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Mary Mundy, Carroll Johnson and Luis Clavell are preparing a Rosa Parks exhibit later this year at the Library of Congress. (photo by Jeff Malet)
