The humble wooden house thatRosa Parksmoved into after fleeing to Detroit in the fallout of her historic Montgomerybus protestwill be auctioneer off by Guernsey ’s next calendar month . The house has been take away apart , reassembled , and displayed in different locating over the old age — admit destinations as far - flung as Berlin , Germany — and the social organization could theoretically be reconstruct anywhere .
The sale of the dwelling will be part ofGuernsey’s“African American Historic & Cultural Treasures ” auction to be held July 25 - 26 in New York City , and proceeds from the house will benefit the Rosa McCauley Parks Heritage Foundation .
The fact that the dwelling house is still resist is testament to the resilient look of Rosa Parks , but it was n’t always in such great material body . The home , formerly ownedby Parks ’s brother , fell into disrepair over the years and was slated to be smash by the city of Detroit .
That ’s when Parks ’s niece , Rhea McCauley , step in . She buy the business firm for $ 500 and reach it over to Ryan Mendoza , an creative person who assure to preserve the structure as a repository . He took it asunder , transported it thousands of miles to Berlin , and rebuilt the star sign in his yard , where it remained on public display .
“ A lot of mass did think that that house was not worth saving because there ’s so many in Detroit that looks just like that house , ” Mendoza told theBBC . “ It sort of goes without aver that she ’s a national icon and what she did was so of import for so many millions of mass even if they do n’t know it . ”
Most recently , the home was expose as part of a symposium with the Rhode Island School of Design .
After Parks was arrested on December 1 , 1955 , for refuse to give up her bus bum to a white man , she lose her Book of Job and received a unwavering watercourse of death menace . Two years latershe and her family determine to move north , and the Detroit home she shared with17 other relativesrepresented “ a place of love and of public security , ” McCauley secern the BBC .
Also heading to the auction bridge pulley block is a handwritten account of Rosa Parks ’s first merging with Martin Luther King , Jr. , in August 1955 , about four months before her bus protest . She wrote of her first impression , “ I was astounded and astonished at the youthful appearing and the unfathomed and smooth-spoken speech birth by Rev. M.L.K. Jr. I know I would never forget him . ”
Other notable items up for sale include a Jackson Five recording contract bridge , contract by Joe Jackson ; original score sheets of euphony from The Supremes and The Temptations ; and hundreds of movie placard document African Americans ’ role in film .
