Error processing SSI file
A vintage white hearse containing the body of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, escorted by officers on horseback, pulls into Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit.Icon rests in peace in chapel
Public can visit the Woodlawn Cemetery mausoleum, renamed for her; but can't go into it.
Error processing SSI file
The marker where Rosa Parks will be entombed reads "Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement." The mausoleum has been renamed the Rosa L. Parks Freedom Chapel.
Comment on this story
DETROIT -- Rosa Parks' final resting place will not be open to the public, cemetery officials said, although people wishing to stroll the grounds near where Parks is entombed won't be turned away.
Parks' body was laid to rest Wednesday evening in the mausoleum of the old stone chapel at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit. Her mother and husband, who previously were buried at the cemetery, will be disinterred and moved to places beside her.
The chapel, which has been renamed the Rosa L. Parks Freedom Chapel since Parks' death, is generally kept locked against vandalism unless a funeral service is under way, said Woodlawn director Sy Leizerman.
However, Leizerman has no plans to otherwise restrict visitors or those wishing to pay tribute to Parks. Tens of thousands of Metro Detroiters filed past her casket earlier in the week, some traveling hundreds of miles to take part in a moment of history.
Hugh Bowman of Livonia is among those who wish to visit the mausoleum to say a final goodbye. He waited three hours Tuesday to view Parks at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History but plans to let the furor die down a bit before making a pilgrimage to Woodlawn.
"It would be good to pay our last respects," said the 64-year-old Bowman. "My wife and I are waiting a while before doing it, though. We are waiting for a little lull."
At the moment, there are no plans to change visiting rules at the cemetery, which is open every day.
Other well-known people buried at the cemetery include former Mayor Albert Cobo, J.L. Hudson, and Aretha Franklin's father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, among others.
None of their gravesites has attracted noticeable attention and it's unclear whether that will change now that Parks is in the chapel.
"The woman was an icon," Leizerman said. "I really don't know at this point what to expect."
You can reach Santiago Esparza at (313) 561-3376 or sesparza@detnews.com.
Copyright © 2005
The Detroit News.
Use of this site indicates your agreement to the Terms of Service (updated 12/19/2002).