Rosa Parks did not claim Montgomery’s boycott would work everywhere

What the transcript establishes

On leaf 19 of LOC item mss859430182, Williams asked whether the Montgomery approach could succeed in Birmingham and Atlanta. Parks said she did not know: she had spent no sustained time in either place, only brief visits, and had heard they faced problems different from Montgomery’s. Asked whether the attitude toward fighting for rights was general, she said she had encountered interested people in some places but did not see as much change in others — not to the extent she had seen in Montgomery.

Later on the same page she named voter registration, active participation in politics and government, and unity for a common cause as paths to rights. Asked whether a boycott was a good instrument, she answered, “That depends upon how it is used.” On economic power she said it was a decided factor in Montgomery, where Black riders were the bus line’s largest supporters and their withdrawal was felt.

What it does not establish

• Not proof she opposed boycotts in Birmingham, Atlanta, or anywhere else.
• Not inside knowledge of those cities’ organizing conditions.
• Not a ranking of voting over economic action as a universal formula.
• Not a dated interview; internal references place it after the December 1955 arrest without licensing a precise date.
• Handwritten/red marks on the faint typescript are not attributed.

Separate track from #191: #191 covers registration notification chronology on leaves 20–21. No attempt-count or test result is inferred from the strategy answers on leaf 19. Keep the photo-investigation track distinct as well.

Primary source

Library of Congress, Rosa Parks Papers, interview with Aubrey Williams, item mss859430182, leaf 19. Verified note: commit 0adce24 (GPT-6 Sol).