In brief
On Friday, the Alabama Capitol will unveil statues of Rosa Parks and Helen Keller, the first of their kind on the Capitol lawn. This initiative aims to honor the critical contributions of women to the state's history. Lawmakers, including Rep. Laura Hall, emphasized the importance of recognizing the impact of women in shaping justice and rights in Alabama. The statues are positioned strategically to reflect their legacies, although they stand in juxtaposition to existing Confederate monuments.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Statues of Rosa Parks and Helen Keller, pivotal figures who fought for justice and inspired change across the world, will be unveiled Friday on the grounds of the Alabama Capitol.These monuments honoring the two famed native Alabamians — one who fought against racial segregation and one who fought for the rights of people with disabilities — will be the first statues of women on the lawn of the Alabama Capitol. The additions will reflect a broader history of the state as they are added to the grounds that also include several tributes to the Confederacy, which was formed at the site in 1861.While 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 were no monuments to famous women on the Capitol grounds.Rep. Laura Hall, who sponsored the 2019 legislation that authorized the monuments, said it is important that visitors to the Capitol, “see the full picture, the history and the impact that women have played.”“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.Known as the mother of the modern civil rights movement, Parks was arrested on Dec. 1, 1955 when she refused to leave her bus seat for a white passenger. Her action ignited the yearlong boycott of the segregated city bus system by Black passengers and helped usher in the civil rights movement.Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She became deaf and blind after a serious illness shortly before her second birthday. With the help of tutor Anne Sullivan, Keller learned to communicate through sign language and Braille. She became a well-known writer and lecturer, championing the rights of workers, the poor, women, and people with disabilities.The statue of Parks is positioned by the Alabama Capitol steps facing Dexter Avenue, the street where Parks boarded the bus and made history in 1955. The statue of Keller faces the Alabama Statehouse. The presentation of these statues has been more than six years in the making, representing a historic shift towards recognizing the contributions of women in Alabama's past.
