The Spark that Ignited the Modern Civil Rights Movement
Location: National Statuary Hall, U.S. Capitol
Size/Medium: 8 ft 10.75 in: bronze & granite

Daub & Firmin Studio’s
Principal sculptor: Eugene Daub
Design and Concept: Eugene Daub and Rob Firmin

Rosa Parks is deservedly one of the icons of the American civil rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said of her act of defiance in Montgomery Alabama on Dec 1, 1955: “The spark that ignited the modern civil rights movement.”

It seems almost everyone knows that Rosa Parks refused to relinquish her bus seat for a white person, but it was a more complex story. Her action vitalized the movement because her impeccable character and supreme dignity made her the right person at the right time. She was not put up to the action by anyone. She did not do it because she was tired. We wanted to capture her character and the character of the historic moment. The background evokes centuries of resistance and the solid support of millions.

We are delighted to have been selected; it is a crowning piece of our civil rights artwork. We thank the NEA, the Architect of the Capitol, its Curator, and the Congressional Committee on the Library for their support.