WARM-UP QUESTION:

Which document is more trustworthy? Why? (Read each source below, then answer the questions in the notebook. Ask your teacher for an inquiry organizer worksheet to help you think about the ways that the sources support and contradict each other.)

SOURCES:

READ: Police Report

Head Note: The police who arrested Rosa Parks filled out this official report about the arrest.

Date 12-1-1955

Complainant: J.F. Blake1 (wm)

Address: 2 7 No. Lewis St. ....

Offense: Misc. ....

Date and Time Offense Committed: 12-1-55 6:06 pm

Place of Occurrence: In Front of Empire Theatre (On Montgomery Street) ....


We received a call upon arrival the bus operator said he had a colored female sitting in the white section of the bus, and would not move back.

We (Day & Mixon) also saw her.

The bus operator signed a warrant for her. Rosa Parks, (cf) 634 Cleveland Boul.

Rosa Parks (cf) was charged with chapter 6 section 11 of the Montgomery City Code.


Warrant #14254


Officers: F.B. Day, D.W. Mixon

Division: Patrol

Time: 7:00 pm

1J.F. Blake was the bus driver. Rosa Parks and he had had a previous incident: he had called the police once before to make her move her seat.

Source: Police Department, City of Montgomery. December 1, 1955.

USE THE NOTEBOOK (instructions):

To answer these questions, log in below

Sourcing: Consider a document's attribution (both its author and how the document came into being).

Who are the "authors" of this document? What biases do you think they had? Why might this be important?

Give Me a Hint

Close Reading: Read carefully to consider what a source says and the language used to say it.

What words in this document explain where Rosa Parks sat? Do you think this means the front, middle, or back of the bus?

Give Me a Hint

Contextualizing: Situate the document and events it reports in place and time.

Based on this document, do you think this is the first time a black person had been arrested for refusing to give up a seat in Montgomery, Alabama? Justify your answer using the document.

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