CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM ON WHEELS

On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks, a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery transit bus. Mrs. Parks’ refusal to give up her seat, marked the beginning of the modern era civil rights movement. Not only would the City of Montgomery be changed after the three hundred and eight-one day bus boycott, but all of the United States of America would be forever changed after Mrs. Parks’ courageous act. The Grove Place Foundation has recently acquired a transit bus which is the same make and model as the Montgomery bus in which Mrs. Parks refused to give up her seat. Please click here to view a movie about the Civil Rights Museum on Wheels.

1950s era bus prior to restoration.

This transit bus (which was, coincidently, used in a major Hollywood motion picture about segregation) has been fully painted and restored, down to the decals and signage, so that it looks identical to the bus which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in 1955.

Original signage on the bus was recreated by VSP Inc.

Since its completion in September 2007, the bus has served as a civil rights museum on wheels. It continues to educate children and adults throughout Western New York on the history and heroes of the civil rights movement here in the United States. Classes and tours are available by appointment only. Please contact The Center for the Study of Civil and Human Rights Laws at (585) 271-6780 for additional information.

1950s era bus after restoration.