Rosa Parks Statue to Go Up on Capitol Hill

The civil rights icon will be the first African-American woman depicted in a statue in Capitol Hill's Statuary Hall.

Posted: 01/22/2013 11:30 AM EST
Rosa Parks Statue Will Be Added to Capitol Later This Year

The late Rosa Parks continues to make history. Her likeness will be depicted in a statue later this year at Capitol Hill's Statuary Hall, making her the first African-American woman to achieve the mark.

Each of the 50 states donates two statues of their most prominent citizens to Statuary Hall. Rosa Parks will be representative of the state of Alabama where she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus and became the "mother of the civil rights movement."

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced the statue would be revealed in late 2013. As chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, he is also in charge of artwork in the Capitol.

Congress passed an order to place the statue in the hall in 2005. In 2008, the National Endowment for the Arts announced a design competition calling artists to submit designs for the statue.

The U.S. Postal Service is also commemorating the life of Rosa Parks. On Feb. 4, the postal service is issuing a special "Historic Forever" stamp in honor of Parks' 100th birthday.

Detroit will be the first city to sell the Rosa Parks stamp.

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(Photo: CBS/Landov)

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