Process Paper
Rosa Parks becoming a Frontier of Civil Rights
Mia Comeau
Junior Division
Individual Website
Process Paper Word Count: 425
Rosa Parks was a frontier of the Civil Rights movement whose actions helped end segregation. On December 1, 1955, forty-two year old Rosa Parks refused to move out of her seat on a segregated bus for a white passenger (“Rosa Parks”). Parks’s simple action quickly impacted lives in Montgomery, Alabama (“Rosa Parks”). Rosa Parks influenced the United States Supreme Court to rule the segregation rules in Montgomery unconstitutional (Parks 157). In Parks’s autobiography, she states, “People always say that I didn’t give up because I was tired, but this isn’t true. I was not tired physically… No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in” (Parks). Parks's decision to not move from the bus changed both her life and all black lives, some for better, some for worse. Rosa Parks's importance was her decision to take a stand against segregation laws and join the Civil Rights movement.
If I had to pick one person in history to be my favorite, it would without a doubt (or second thought!) be Rosa Parks. I wanted to grow up and make the world a better place like she did as a younger girl. Her courage, some could say stubbornness, helped to end segregation in the south. When I learned about this year's National History Day topic, my first thought was to research the Montgomery Bus Boycott, because Rosa Parks was an important figure in the time. So I chose the Montgomery Bus Boycott, but later changed my topic to just focus on Rosa Parks' life and her role in the Civil Rights movement. I believe that Rosa Parks was determined as well as a hero.
The information on the pages Background, Impact, Influence, and Importance was originally written for a research paper but then it was tweaked to use for this website. I used many pictures for primary sources. I tried to use a different picture for every page although some of the pages have no pictures at all. The Background page however, consists of a video.
I chose to create a website instead of a documentary because I originally wanted to create a documentary but many people chose to create websites so I changed my idea because I knew I would need help to create parts of my project so in choosing to create a website I would have more people to ask for help instead of just two people. The website also seemed a little easier. The documentary involved much creativity but I believe that in creating a website I would also be able to express my creativity freely.