Alabama rosa parks helen keller Alabama Capitol.

Statues of Rosa Parks and Helen Keller will be unveiled Friday on the grounds of the Alabama Capitol. The monuments honoring the two famed native Alabamians will be the first statues of women placed on the state capitol grounds. Known as the mother of the modern civil rights movement, Parks helped ignite the Montgomery Bus Boycott for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus to a white passenger. Keller was left blind and deaf after an early childhood illness. She learned to communicate through sign language and Braille and became a famous author, lecturer and activist. Alabama lawmakers in 2019 approved legislation to place the monuments to Parks and Keller on the grounds of the state Capitol.