Personal

Born: Rosa Louise McCauley on Feb. 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Ala.
Parents: James McCauley, a carpenter, and Leona Edwards McCauley, a teacher. Her father left the family when Rosa was very young. Her mother often advised her to "take advantage of the opportunities, no matter how few they are."
Family: Her husband, Raymond Parks, was a barber active in black voter registration and other civil rights causes. He died of cancer in 1977, the same year her brother, Sylvester, died. She had no children born to her, but she has said, "I consider all children as mine."
Education: Finished high school in 1934. She has received more than two dozen honorary doctorates, including one from Soka University in Tokyo.
Home away from home: At her brother's urging, she and Raymond moved to Detroit to escape the threats they constantly received in Alabama. She still lives there but spends winters in Los Angeles.