March 17, 2026 – In the 1990s, Douglas Brinkley, author and historian, was searching for a definitive biography of Rosa Parks, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. He could not find one so he decided to write it. Rosa Parks: A Life (2000, 231 pages) is a fascinating and well researched book. Buried in papers, Brinkley found some of Rosa’s notes from a two-week civil rights workshop she attended in summer 1955 in Tennessee. And as he notes in his book, Brinkley said that many civil rights historians have not realized the importance of Rosa’s job as a secretary at Maxwell Field during World War II. The Army base was integrated so she rode a trolley on which she could sit anywhere but as soon as she left Maxwell to board a city bus to go home, she had to sit in the back of the bus. It was a humiliation she vowed to end. The book is a gift to all. Read the Stories 250 story about Rosa: Rosa Parks (1913-2005): Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.