Do you know the story of PFC Sarah Keys?

You learn something new everyday! You’ve heard of Rosa Parks, but have you heard of Washington, N.C. native PFC Sarah Keys?

A big thanks to The U.S. Army for creating and posting this video on their Youtube page.

Here’s the video they posted and what they wrote in the caption:

In 1952, while on a bus trip home, PFC Sarah Keys was awoken by the driver and told to move to the back. Keys refused and was hauled off to jail. Since she was in her Army dress uniform, Key’s refused to get it dirty and stood for thirteen hours in the cell. She was fined and released in the morning. Keys filed a case with the Interstate Commerce Commission who initially ruled against her, but she continued to push for what was right. The Commission eventually agreed and ruled that neither interstate buses nor trains could assign seating based on the color of a passenger’s skin. Two weeks later, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama — a move that changed the rules for local buses as well. The town of Roanoke Rapids now has a memorial dedicated to Keys, which includes a mural of Sarah standing in a jail cell with her hands clasped in prayer and her head held high. Keys is now in her 90s, and lives in New York, and wants her story to be remembered as one of perseverance and not prosecution. She is the epitome of an American Soldier, and we are grateful for her incredible legacy.