Montgomery, Ala. historical marker tells of Rosa Parks, Elijah Cook

'City of Montgomery v. Rosa Parks' historical marker.

This week’s featured historical marker is the “CITY OF MONTGOMERY v. ROSA PARKS/ELIJAH COOK” marker in Montgomery, Ala. The marker is located in the Lister Hill Plaza near the corner of North Perry Street and Madison Avenue in downtown Montgomery.

This historical marker was sponsored by the City of Montgomery and the Alabama Historical Association and was erected in 2011. There’s text on both sides of this marker, and both sides are unique. What follows is the complete text from the marker.

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“City of Montgomery v. Rosa Parks: The trial for seamstress Rosa M. Parks was held on Monday 5, December, in the Recorder’s Court of the City of Montgomery. (The room was later the site of meetings of the city council.) The trial began at 9:00 and continued for about 30 minutes. Parks and her attorney were accompanied by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, E.D. Nixon, and hundreds of interested blacks. Judge John B. Scott found Parks guilty of disorderly conduct and fined her $14. She lost on appeal on 22 February 1956, but the Parks case of 1955 ignited a one-day boycott of the city buses that eventually led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Under Browder v. Gayle, the boycott ended on 20 December 1956.”

“ELIJAH COOK: Educator, Businessman, Lawmaker: Born a slave in Wetumpka in 1833, Elijah Cook became a leader in Montgomery’s African American community. Credited with helping to establish the city’s first school for blacks in the basement of the Old Ship AME Zion Church in 1865, he also selected the site for Swayne College (later Booker T. Washington School) that opened in 1868. In 1887, he assisted in posting the $10,000 surety bond to relocate the Lincoln School of Marion (later Alabama State University) to Montgomery. After serving in the legislature from 1874 to 1876, he opened an undertaking firm across from city hall in the early 1880s.”

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There are dozens of historical markers in Montgomery, and the one above is just one of many about the Civil Rights Movement. Others include markers about the Civil Rights Freedom Riders, the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery’s Greyhound Bus Station, the Harris House, the Holt Street Baptists Church, E.L. Posey, the Selma to Montgomery March, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bernard Whitehurst and the Home of Dr. E.D. Dixon Sr.

In the end, visit this site next Wednesday to learn about another historical marker. I’m also taking suggestions from the reading audience, so if you know of an interesting historical marker that you’d like me to feature, let me know in the comments section below.