New York, NY, November 7, 2005… As the nation mourns the passing of Rosa Parks, whose challenge to racial segregation on Montgomery, Alabama's municipal buses inspired the boycott that eventually led to the Supreme Court decision declaring segregation on buses unconstitutional, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) honors her legacy with a new curriculum devoted to her life, times and legacy.

"Rosa Parks was a seamstress who rode the bus to and from her job like other working people," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.  "By her simple act of courage, in refusing to give up her seat to a white man, she set an example that galvanized the civil rights movement and showed how the actions of one person could transform the nation."

ADL's lesson plan for Grades 6 - 12, titled "Rosa Parks: Sources of Information" challenges the conventional historical narrative on Rosa Parks.  The story of a seamstress too tired to give up her seat on that fateful day of December 1, 1955, is well known.  Less known is the fact that she was a community leader and activist for more than a dozen years prior to the boycott.

Available at www.adl.org/education, the Rosa Parks curriculum is the latest release in the League's series of online educational materials.  The League routinely makes anti-bias educational materials available to grade school teachers free of charge for their use in the classroom.

The new ADL curriculum uses Rosa Park's story as a case study, teaching students to evaluate sources of historical information critically and encourages them to examine the political implications of historical contextualization.  Additionally, ADL has prepared a brief biography, a list of resources for teachers and an annotated bibliography of children's books that present the life of Rosa Parks accurately and within an appropriate historical context.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.