Black History

Black History: Parks, Keller Statues Highlight Ala. Capitol Lawn

Two new statues of Rosa Parks and Helen Keller now grace the Alabama Capitol grounds, honoring two trailblazing women who changed history. Sponsored by Rep. Laura Hall, the monuments are the first to recognize women at the state Capitol, symbolizing progress in both civil rights and disability advocacy.
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By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

MONTGOMERY, AL

Statues of Rosa Parks and Helen Keller are the newest additions to the lawn of the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery.

The monuments were unveiled on Oct. 24 to honor the two famous women who were both born in Alabama. Parks fought against racial segregation and Keller fought for the rights of people with disabilities. The monuments are the first statues of women on the lawn of the Alabama Capitol.

State Congresswoman Laura Hall, who has represented District 19 since she was first elected in 1993, sponsored the 2019 legislation that authorized the monuments.

“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,” Hall said.

Rosa Parks is known as the mother of the modern civil rights movement. She was arrested on Dec. 1, 1955 in Montgomery when she refused to leave her bus seat for a white passenger, sparking the 13-month Montgomery Bus Boycott that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional.

Helen Keller, blind and deaf, learned to communicate through sign language and Braille, becoming a well-known writer, lecturer and women’s and disabled rights activist.

The statue of Parks sits by the Alabama Capitol steps facing Dexter Avenue, the street where Parks boarded the bus and made history in 1955. It is located across from a statue that honors Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

The statue of Keller faces the Alabama Statehouse.

Inside the Capitol there is a bust of former Gov. Lurleen Wallace, the state’s first female governor who died in office in 1968. There are no other monuments to famous women on the Capitol grounds.

Alabama lawmakers in 2019 approved Hall’s legislation to place the monuments to Parks and Keller on the grounds of the state Capitol. The Alabama Women’s Tribute Statue Commission has been quietly at work, commissioning the statues and finalizing the displays.