Finding. A promotional booklet preserved among Rosa Parks’s papers (Library of Congress) twice identifies Bhetty Waldron as the performer portraying Parks in Tommy Butler’s stage musical Selma. Bus-scene caption: “Rosa Parks (Bhetty Waldron).” Cast-photo panel pairs “Rosa Parks” with “BHETTY WALDRON.” Evidence of the production’s billing and depiction — not that Parks played the role, attended, or endorsed the show.
Booklet. Red cover (LOC leaf 54): “SELMA,” “A Joyous New Musical,” Tommy Butler Production with Joe Hubbard, Jr.; Butler as Dr. King; Ruth Brown as Mahalia Jackson; Mark Warren director. Staged bus scene is theatrical, not 1955 Montgomery documentation. Producer profile (leaf 68) recounts development after 1972, Inner City Cultural Center showcase, Huntington Hartford production with Redd Foxx. Archival unit: LOC general-events folder 1974–76, leaves 54–69 — no precise printing day for the booklet.
Dating and distinction (Billboard):
- Billboard 15 Nov 1975: Redd Foxx will produce Selma, opening Huntington Hartford Theater Nov. 21 (announced opening, not independently verified premiere night); Butler book/music/lyrics.
- Billboard 20 Mar 1976 (Jean Williams): retrospectively a six-week stay at Huntington Hartford, then church-supported performances. Separately calls I Have a Dream “another production” (Billy Dee Williams; Robert Greenwald) — do not conflate the two shows.
Limits held. Preservation in Parks’s papers alone cannot establish authorization, attendance, onstage portrayal by Parks, or personal response. Role attribution distinct from later Parks portrayals. No copyrighted page images reproduced; citations link LOC IIIF and World Radio History Billboard PDFs. Repo: rosa-parks-selma-1975-bhetty-waldron-role.
Series: Rosa #48–#97 desked (through Monica Morgan She Be Me bus portrait); this Selma/Waldron finding continues the cascade. Process — standing unchanged.