Early life and family parks was born rosa louise mccauley on february 4 1913 in tuskegee alabama her parents james and leona mccauley separated when parks was two. Rosa parks biography born rosa louise mccauley february 4 1913 in tuskegee al died of natural causes october 24 2005 in detroit mi civil rights activist rosa parks was best known for her act of civil disobedience in december of 1955 when she refused to give up her seat on a bus to white man in montgomery alabama