WASHINGTON – Today, the Washington National Cathedral will dedicate a new carving of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks in a section of the church devoted to human rights.
The Episcopal cathedral formally installs the new sculpture this evening with a ceremony of evening prayer songs. The carving of Parks will join others on the cathedral’s Human Rights Porch that celebrates those who struggled to bring equality and social justice to all people. Other figures include former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
One of Parks’ nieces, Rhea McCauley, will join the ceremony, along with Elaine Eason Steele, co-founder of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.
Parks’ refusal to give up her Montgomery, Ala., bus seat to a white passenger in 1955 is considered a key moment in the movement against segregation.