MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Echosphere) — Statues of Rosa Parks and Helen Keller, pivotal figures who fought for justice and inspired change across the world, will be unveiled Friday on the grounds of the Alabama Capitol.
The monuments honoring the two famed native Alabamians — one who fought against racial segregation and one who fought for the rights of people with disabilities — will be the first statues of women on the lawn of the Alabama Capitol. The additions will reflect a broader history of the state as they are added to the grounds that also include several tributes to the Confederacy, which was formed at the site in 1861.
While inside the Capitol there is a bust of former Gov. Lurleen Wallace, the state’s first female governor who died in office in 1968, there were no monuments to famous women on the Capitol grounds.
Rep. Laura Hall, who sponsored the 2019 legislation that authorized the monuments, emphasized the importance of acknowledging the full history and the impact women have made. “Helen Keller and Rosa Parks just seemed to be the image that — whether you were Black or white, Democrat or Republican — you could identify with and realize the impact that they had on history,” Hall said.
Known as the mother of the modern civil rights movement, Park's arrest on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give up her bus seat ignited a yearlong boycott of Montgomery's segregated bus system, marking a pivotal point in the civil rights movement.
Keller, born June 27, 1880, became deaf and blind after an illness at age two. With the help of her tutor Anne Sullivan, she overcame her disabilities to become a renowned advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, laborers, and women.
The statue of Parks will face Dexter Avenue where she boarded the bus in 1955, while Keller's statue will look towards the Alabama Statehouse. The presentation of the statues has been in the making for more than six years, driven by the Alabama Women’s Tribute Statue Commission established by Hall's legislation.
