PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The house where Rosa Parks lived after sparking the Montgomery bus boycott was on a demolition list in Detroit until it was saved by Parks’ niece and a Berlin-based artist, who moved it to Germany and reassembled it in his yard, piece by piece.

Now, it’s set to be returned to the United States and displayed for three months in Rhode Island. It’s a move the artist, Ryan Mendoza, and Parks’ family say is necessary at a time that racial justice is at the center of the American conversation.

“Auntie Rosa was an American hero, and we shouldn’t have to have other countries acknowledge our heroes for us,” said Parks’ niece, Rhea McCauley. “It’s a step in the right direction.”

The plan is to bring the two-story wooden house to the U.S. early next year. It would be displayed March through May in Providence inside the WaterFire Arts Center.