'Human, vulnerable and perfect': New Rosa Parks exhibit shines light on civil rights legend

You may think you know Rosa Parks. But a new exhibit aims to educate further about the late activist and civil rights icon.

"Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words," an exhibition that opened at the Library of Congress in Washington on Thursday, reveals Rosa Parks was more than the acts of heroism that made her famous. Yes, Parks famously declined to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus in 1955, but she was also an activist before and after. She fought against inequality and injustice for decades and wasn't even to the halfway point of her life upon her arrest. 

"We wanted to get beyond the legend," Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress, tells USA TODAY. "Beyond the tired woman on the bus."

And beyond the exhibition does go.

Here's a look at what we saw during a preview. .

What the Rosa Parks exhibit looks like

Visitors to the nation's capital will already be awestruck by the Library of Congress's striking exterior, featuring tall columns and statues of mermaids. Head inside and you'll be treated to intricate artwork along the walls and hike up the stairs or take the elevator to get to the exhibit itself. You'll walk through the Library of Congress' ongoing exhibition about women's suffrage: "Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote."