WASHINGTON - Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks would be the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda under resolutions prepared Thursday by lawmakers.
Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955 led to a 381-day boycott of the city's bus system and helped spark the modern civil rights movement. She died Monday in Detroit at age 92.
The Senate approved a resolution Thursday allowing her remains to lie in honor in the Rotunda on Sunday and Monday "so that the citizens of the United States may pay their last respects to this great American." The House was expected to consider the resolution Friday.
In most cases, only presidents, members of Congress and military commanders have been permitted to lie in the Rotunda.
Parks would be the first woman and second black American to receive the honor. Jacob J. Chestnut, a Capitol police officer fatally shot in 1998, was the first black American to lie in honor, said Senate historian Richard Baker.
The most recent person to lie in repose in the Capitol was President Ronald Reagan in 2004.
Officials with the Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in Detroit said at one point that Parks would lie in repose at the Lincoln Memorial. The National Park Service, however, said those plans were not formalized.
Lila Cabbil, the institute's president emeritus, said Thursday the foundation is working with Congress and the White House to make arrangements to have a viewing in Washington.
The Capitol event was one of several planned to honor the civil rights pioneer. Parks will lie in repose Saturday at St. Paul AME Church in Montgomery, and a memorial service will be held at the church Sunday morning.
Following her viewing in the Capitol, a memorial service was planned for Monday at St. Paul AME Church in Washington.
From Monday night until Wednesday morning, Parks will lie in repose at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit.
