Rosa Parks, one of the most famous and influential Alabamians, represented—and brought—change all throughout the country. Born in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1913, she soon become of the biggest faces in the Civil Rights movement. To honor her, the city of Auburn is planning to build a Rosa Parks Museum. Though they’ve yet to acquire the property for the museum, plans are ongoing. Here’s more on the Rosa Parks Museum project in Northwest Auburn and its progress.
How the Project Began
Though the Rosa Parks Museum Project in Northwest Auburn is still fairly new, it’s been gaining steam. At the beginning of 2019 in January, Councilman Tommy Dawson raised the possibility of honoring Rosa Parks. That’s when the notion of a Rosa Parks Museum in Auburn project arose.
Plans for the Museum
In her years of activism, Rosa Parks was not alone. She worked as one of the many activists in the Civil Rights movement, which included important figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bayard Rustin, and Dorothy Height. The Rosa Parks Museum project in Northwest Auburn plans to highlight Parks, while also uplifting local African-American history and heritage.
With two rooms dedicated to each respective subject, the museum itself will also showcase a piece of history. It will use its proposed two rooms of space to reference the layout of a Rosenwald School. Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald created thousands of Rosenwald Schools. In the segregated South, these small schools gave African-American students a place to learn.
Notably, the communities in which these schools were built contributed widely to the schools’ construction and management. Now, it’s fitting that an institution supported by its community is being used to model its history. In fact, City Manager Jim Buston noted that the museum will also be a community-led project too.
Summary
While the project is still in the planning phase, it could one day become an important Auburn landmark. To learn more about Auburn history, culture, and events, check out our blog here. If you’d like to make Auburn, Opelika, or Lake Martin your home, you can fill out our contact form here.