Writings, Notes, and Statements

This section contains fragmentary writings, interviews, notes, statements, prayers, and spiritual ‎reflections by Parks that span the years 1956-1991. A collection of early fragmentary writings describes ‎her life, her arrest, and her views on race relations and Jim Crow segregation. Written on scraps of ‎paper and the backs of incoming correspondence, most of the drafts are undated, although their ‎probable dates can be inferred from what they are written on. Many of these jottings date from 1956 ‎to 1958, years that included the Montgomery Bus Boycott and her employment at Hampton Institute ‎in Virginia. An undated draft letter on Montgomery Fair stationery may date from the fall of 1955. The ‎purpose of these writings is often unclear. Some of them likely captured her thoughts for speeches. ‎Others may have been intended for an autobiography. Some may have been private reflections to ‎psychologically process what she had been through.