She’s Co-Founder of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development

In February 1987, Mrs. Rosa Parks and Ms. Elaine Eason Steele co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in honor of Raymond Parks (1903-1977). It is the living legacy of two people who have dedicated their lives to civil and human rights.

On December 18, 1932, Raymond Parks married Rosa McCauley. He worked as a barber in Wedowee, Randolph County, Alabama. He lacked formal schooling but possessed a passion for knowledge and a no-nonsense approach to life. He backed his wife's "Quiet Strength" campaign and urged young people to receive a decent education in order to support themselves and their families, as well as to remove prejudice in this country.

Elaine Eason Steele met Mrs. Rosa Parks while working in a sewing factory as a high school student in the early 1960s. Following graduation, she offered to work with Mrs. Parks and assist her in any way she could. Like the daughter she never had, she became a terrific friend. Elaine was also aware of Mrs. Parks' desire to memorialize Mr. Parks, as well as her love and devotion to youngsters. They founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in 1987.