Rosa Parks and Helen Keller will soon have statues on the grounds of the Alabama Capitol

The monuments were mandated in a measure signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey. The new legislation creates a body to fund, commission and place statues of Parks and Keller on the capitol grounds.

It states that the Alabama Historical Commission will get input from the public and other interested parties on the plans and designs for the monuments. It also says that the commission can use state funds, in addition to private gifts, grants and donations, to build the statues.

"The Alabama Historical Commission shall develop and implement a plan for the commissioning of monuments in dedication to and in recognition of Rosa Parks and Helen Keller, which shall include statues of Mrs. Parks and Miss. Keller which shall be located at an appropriate place on the Capitol grounds," the text of the bill reads.

Rosa Parks became one of the major symbols of the civil rights movement after she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus in 1955. The move sparked a 381-day bus boycott and was a catalyst for the civil rights movement. She died in 2005 at age 92.

Helen Keller lost her sight and hearing as a toddler, and learned to speak at the age of 10 with the help of her teacher and mentor Anne Sullivan. Keller went on to graduate from Radcliffe College, then the women's branch of Harvard University, eventually becoming a political activist, author and speaker. She died in 1968.

Keller also has a statue in the US Capitol's National Statuary Hall.

CNN's Amanda Watts contributed to this report.

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