MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WDNews) – Two of Alabama’s most influential native daughters were honored with new statues on the grounds of the Alabama Capitol. Monuments of Rosa Parks and Helen Keller were unveiled Friday, marking the first time women have been permanently recognized on the Capitol lawn.
The statues pay tribute to two women whose courage and determination inspired movements that changed the world — Parks, the “mother of the modern civil rights movement,” and Keller, an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities.
Rep. Laura Hall, who sponsored the 2019 legislation that made the monuments possible, said the additions help complete the story of Alabama’s history. “It’s important that visitors to the Capitol see the full picture, the history and the impact that women have played,” Hall said. “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.”
Parks, who grew up in Pine Level, Ala., was arrested on Dec. 1, 1955, in Montgomery after refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Her quiet act of defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped ignite the civil rights movement.
Keller, born in Tuscumbia in 1880, lost her sight and hearing at a young age but went on to become a celebrated author, lecturer, and activist. With the help of her teacher Anne Sullivan, she became a powerful advocate for people with disabilities, as well as for women’s and workers’ rights.
The new Rosa Parks statue sits near the Capitol steps, facing Dexter Avenue — the same street where Parks boarded the bus that made history. Fittingly, it stands across from the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, symbolizing a striking contrast between Alabama’s divided past and its progress toward a more inclusive legacy.
