Woman of the Week is back! Each week we will be posting a blog about one of our great historic women;
Each room at 54 St James Street has been carefully named after an inspiring woman who made her mark in history. The Women’s Organisation want to introduce you to some of these amazing women so you can see why they have been recognised at the Women’s International Centre for Economic Development (WICED)
This week, we are writing about Rosa Parks.
Rosa Parks
(February 4th 1913 – October 24th 2005)
Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. Rose’s mother was a schoolteacher and her father was a carpenter. At the age of nineteen Rosa married a man named Raymond Parks who at the time was a barber. Rosa and her husband were both involved in various civil rights causes.
She was very influential in all aspects of the Civil Rights movement, but her biggest contribution was the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
On 1 December 1955, as she was riding home from a long day at work, she was ordered by the bus driver to give up her seat on a public bus so that a white man might sit. She refused, was arrested and fined $14. A city-wide boycott of the bus companies was organised by African Americans, to force the city to desegregate public transportation.
A young minister, Martin Luther King, Jr became involved, and began to make a name for himself through his oratory. The boycott continued, despite official opposition, for 382 days. It became the largest boycott in American history. During the boycott, 17,000 black people in Montgomery walked to work or obtained lifts from the small car-owning population.
The boycott was ended on 21 December 1956 when the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on city buses was unconstitutional, and due to the company’s loss of revenue, Parks and King became national heroes.
It was the beginning of a mass movement of non-violent social change, culminating in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
54 St James Street is a development of The Women’s Organisation which works for women’s economic progress. The Women’s Organisation has been a non-profit distributing company since 1996 (formerly known as Train 2000). By using the fabulous facilities available at 54 St James Street not only will you be assured of a successful event but you will contribute to the valuable work delivered through The Women’s Organisation.
The Parks Suite has the facilities of plasma screen TV, integrated audio visual and IT. The Suite provides a smart environment ideal for hosting client presentations, board meetings and staff development sessions for up to 10 people. This room also benefits from natural light, heating and cooling systems and free WiFi.
To find out more about our Parks Suite and all of our other suites and rooms, contact us on venue@thewo.org.uk or visit our website here.