Mourners began arriving early Wednesday morning for the funeral of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit.

The temple has seating for about 4,000, but the crowd was estimated to be larger than that.

To the strains of a gospel choir, mourners filed past the open casket.

Former President Clinton shook hands and hugged children after he paid his respects.

Civil rights leaders, dignitaries and politicians are among the thousands attending the funeral.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has called Parks "the mother of a new America," was among those who paused at the casket.

He's one of several speakers at the funeral.

Parks died Oct. 24 at her home in Detroit at the age of 92.

She and her husband were forced to move there because they were unable to find work in Montgomery after the bus boycott triggered by her arrest.

Thousands of people filed past her casket Sunday and Monday in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, an honor usually reserved for presidents, members of congress and top military officers.

Parks was praised as a woman of quiet strength during a memorial service Monday in Washington.

Parks died a little more than a month before the 50th anniversary of the act of defiance that earned her a place in civil rights history.

Click Here For Rosa And Raymond Parks Institute For Self Development

Click Here For Rosa Parks Library And Museum Web Site