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Above: Mural in the Rosa Parks Lounge. Photo by Ian Blanck (2024).
Below: Large windows allowing the room to bathe in natural light. Photo by Ian Blanck (2024).
Honoring a Legacy
Honoring a Legacy
By Ian Blanck
Massive windows bathe comfortable seating in natural light, creating calm warmth in the Rosa Parks Memorial Lounge located in Stockwell Hall in the University of Michigan's Hill Neighborhood. The serenity is further exaggerated by the classy wooden walls enclosing the lounge that blocking out external noise and creating a perfect ambience for studying. It’s quite fitting the name Rosa means rose (“Rosa”) and the name Parks means “park keeper” (Quirante), capturing the peaceful atmosphere of the lounge entirely.
Multiple pictures of Rosa Parks telling the story of her life in the lounge named in her honor. Photo by Ian Blanck (2024).
Images of civil rights leader Rosa Parks hang all around the lounge named in her honor, telling stories in which one can get absorbed in during a break from working in the lounge. Famous for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, Parks sparked controversy which would lead to bus boycotts across the country. She furthered the rights for the marginalized, especially Black Americans, and worked to create justice within the United States (“Rosa Parks”). I think that it is appropriate that she was chosen as the namesake for this lounge as the lounge itself is a place for diversity and equality. On any given day, one can walk into the lounge and see people working together studying from all different backgrounds. In fact, the space is often used for club meetings due to its inclusive environment, according to Michigan Housing. It is environments like this in which Rosa dedicated her life to, and her life's work is embedded in this room.
The room was dedicated to Rosa Parks in 1973, a period which had massive amounts of political and racial turmoil setting a tone for the values of which the University of Michigan believed (“Rosa Parks Minority Lounge”). Three years after the lounge was dedicated to Parks, the city of Detroit dedicated what was former called 12th Street to in her honor (Sasser). Additionally, museums and other federal buildings across the country bear her name, not only showing both her prominence but also the result of her life work (source).
To some, this room may just be a study space, but to Ann Arbor as a whole, it represents the strides Rosa Parks and the Black American community have made in the last century. Overall, this location is a must see to memorialize Rosa Parks and what she has done for everyone. The diversity her actions brought to each of our lives is often taken for granted. I would recommend to any student to stop by the Rosa Parks Memorial Lounge and take a second out of their day to honor her while experiencing what the room has to offer.
Wooden walls and portrait of Rosa Parks through the stages of her life. Photo by Ian Blanck (2024).
Works Cited
Blanck, Ian. Photo of the lounge's wall of windows. Oct. 2024. Author's personal collection.
Blanck, Ian. Photo of the lounge's wooden walls and portrait of Rosa Parks through the stages of her life. Oct. 2024. Author's personal collection.
Blanck, Ian. Photo of the a mural in the Rosa Parks Lounge. Oct. 2024. Author's personal collection.
Blanck, Ian. Photo of the students in the Rosa Parks Lounge. Oct. 2024. Author's personal collection.
Quirante, Isolde. “Parks.” The Bump, thebump.com/b/parks-baby-name. Accessed 7 Oct. 2024.
“Rosa Parks.” History Channel, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, history.com/topics/black-history/rosa-parks. Accessed 7 Oct. 2024.
“Rosa.” Names.Org, names.org/n/rosa/about. Accessed 7 Oct. 2024.
“Rosa Parks Minority Lounge.” Michigan Housing, University of Michigan, housing.umich.edu/cultural-lounge/rosa-parks/. Accessed 7 Oct. 2024.
Sasser, Craig. “The Streets of Detroit.” History Detroit, 2014, historydetroit.com/places/streets.php. Accessed 7 Oct. 2024.
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