Lying in State
I got up early this morning and went to the Capitol to pay my respects to Mrs. Parks. "Pay my respects" is the right term; I didn’t know Rosa Parks personally, and she lived a long and full life, so I can’t really say I was mourning her death. I was acknowledging her as both a person and as a symbol of what one individual can do.
I don’t have any photos — only the press were allowed to take pictures. Bitch has a link up to a slideshow of images. It was a beautiful Washington morning, with the sun just coming up and lighting the monuments. All the official flags are at half-mast. From the trampled grass and miles of barriers, it’s clear there were long lines last night (the Post says there were waits of up to 5 hours), but just before 7 am this morning there was hardly any wait. The police officers guiding people through looked tired.
The people I saw at the viewing were racially mixed, teenagers on up. (We thought about bringing the boys in this morning, but decided that they wouldn’t understand and it wasn’t worth the hassle in order to be able to tell them that they had done it.) Everyone looked somber and mostly talked in hushed voices, if at all. One woman called out "thank you, Rosa" as she walked by. The coffin was on a box draped in black, and there were three huge wreaths, one each from the President, the House and the Senate. A Capitol Police officer in dress uniform stood at attention at either end.
The list of those who have lain in state at the Capitol is a strange mix. Being assassinated while President pretty much guarantees you the honor (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Kennedy) but just dying in office doesn’t (Roosevelt). Some pretty mediocre presidents have been honored (Taft?!) as well as a truly obscure Senator (John Alexander Logan). Two Capitol Police officers who were killed in the line of duty were honored, as were unknown soldiers of World Wars I and II, Korea, and "the Vietnam era." Congress considered so honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., but did not. The list is enriched by the addition of Rosa Parks.
October 31st, 2005 at 11:34 am
Wow, I’m really glad you were able to go. I wish I had been.
October 31st, 2005 at 11:49 am
Somehow, I feel better knowing your were able to pay your respects–there was obviously no way that I could, but at least I can imagine some little byte of myself hovering over your shoulder while you were there. Thanks.
October 31st, 2005 at 2:29 pm
It’s great that you could go, and I was glad to read this list. Please tell me she’s not the first woman, though.
October 31st, 2005 at 2:40 pm
Landismom, she is the first woman, and only the second African-American (Jacob Chestnut, one of the two slain Capitol Police officers, was the first).
October 31st, 2005 at 4:05 pm
When she died, I made sure to talk to my kids about her, introducing the subject with an “I don’t know if you’ve learned about this in school…” (although experience has taught me that very rarely have they, when it comes to recent history). And I was very happy to learn that they knew everything about Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement…and then I remembered that they’d visited the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis this past summer, on vacation with their uncle. I’ve been there myself and it’s one of the most moving experiences of my life.
At any rate, it’s good to know that Rosa Parks is known and remembered among the youth of today, and will be missed.
October 31st, 2005 at 10:11 pm
How great that you were able to attend. I heard a story about it on NPR. The comments by some of the people who attended (how much her action had affected their lives at the time) were mind-blowing and very moving.
I am happy our government made the decision to honor Rosa Parks in this way.