MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Seven decades after Rosa Parks was thrust indelibly into American history for refusing to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, new photos of the Civil Rights Movement icon have been made public for the first time, and they illustrate aspects of her legacy that are often overlooked.
The photos were taken by the late Civil Rights photographer Matt Herron, depicting Parks during the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 — a five-day-long, 54-mile trek that is often credited with galvanizing political momentum for the U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965.
History lessons tend to define Parks by her act of civil disobedience a decade earlier, on Dec. 1, 1955, which launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott. On Friday, some boycott participants and many of the boycott organizers’ descendants gathered to mark 70 years since the 381-day struggle in Alabama’s capital caught national attention, overthrowing racial segregation on public transportation.
The never-before-seen photos released to the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery on Thursday, taken a decade after the boycott, are a reminder that her activism began before and extended well beyond her most well-known act of defiance, said Donna Beisel, the museum’s director.
“This is showing who Ms. Parks was, both as a person and as an activist,” Beisel said.
Never printed before
The new photos place Parks among other Civil Rights icons, yet many were never printed or displayed in any of Herron’s numerous exhibits. Herron moved to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1963, capturing essential moments of the Civil Rights era through his lens.
Jeannine Herron, the photographer's widow, said these photos resurfaced from a contact sheet housed at Stanford University. Most were overlooked due to poor quality or because they included less famous subjects. However, the new images reveal Parks sitting among the crowd, adding depth to her historical representation.
Jeannine Herron is collaborating with historians and surviving Civil Rights activists in Alabama to reconnect these images with the communities they reflect.
A joyous reunion
Among Herron’s most frequent subjects was 20-year-old Doris Wilson from Marion, Alabama. Years later, photos of her taken during the march are being displayed publicly for the first time. Wilson, who had intense blisters from walking long distances, was photographed receiving medical attention. Upon reviewing the images during a gathering in Lincoln Normal School, she joyfully reunited with Dr. June Finer, who treated her during that pivotal time.
“I longed to see her,” Wilson said, reflecting on their emotional encounter.
Robert E. Wilson, her son, expressed awe at discovering his mother’s strength and determination through the photography.
Years of searching
Cheryl Gardner Davis recalls her family's involvement during the march in 1965, hosting the weary walkers on their farm in Alabama. Now, Davis sees previously unseen photos of marchers at her childhood home, validating her family's sacrifices during that historic struggle.
“It’s, in a sense, validation. This actually happened, and people were there,” Davis stated, highlighting the significance these images have for acknowledging often-overlooked contributors to the Civil Rights Movement.
