Daisy Lee Gatson Bates was an activist who broke racial and gender barriers to spearhead one of the most pivotal moments in the Civil Rights Movement. Bates is best known as the leading force behind the desegregation of Little Rock's Central High School.
Bates was born Daisy Gatson in Huttig, Arkansas, in 1914. She was raised by foster parents Orlee and Susie Smith; little is known about her biological parents. Growing up in the rural, segregated town, Bates received a limited education. She married L.C. Bates, a salesman and newspaper professional, and the couple moved to Little Rock in 1942. They founded the Arkansas State Press and the newspaper became the number one publication in the state among African-Americans.
Fighting to End Justice
Daisy and L.C. were both ardent members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and used the newspaper to advocate against the disenfranchisement of African-Americans.
After previously failing to land leadership positions in the Little Rock chapter of the NAACP, Bates was elected president of the NAACP Arkansas State Conference of Branches in 1952.
Despite the doubts of many of her male peers, Bates proved herself to be very active and capable leader. When the U.S. Supreme Court passed Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, officially declaring segregated schools unconstitutional, the Little Rock School Board released a plan that outlined gradual integration.
The local chapter of the NAACP wanted immediate integration. NAACP lawyers represented families in the Aaron v. Cooper case when they were prevented from enrolling their children in white schools in 1956. Bates played an integral role in the court proceedings. As president of the local NAACP, she testified on behalf of the plaintiffs and her strong will and poise drew the attention and ire of segregationists.
Initially, the court rules in favor of the school district but eventually in the fall of 1957, Judge Ronald Davies ordered that the desegregation of the district proceed.
Mentoring the Little Rock Nine
Bates selected nine students to be the first to enroll at Central. They became known as the Little Rock Nine. Her home served as headquarters where the students met with her and other leaders to prepare them for the upcoming school year. Under constant scrutiny and harassment, the Bates home was vandalized repeatedly and twice gas-soaked crosses were burned in the yard.
The students were prevented from entering Central on September 4, 1957, by the Arkansas National Guard under the orders of the Governor Orval Faubus. After days of intense media scrutiny, court proceedings, and intervention from President Dwight Eisenhower, the students were escorted into Central High by members of the 101st Airborne of September 25.
Despite intimidation tactics, Bates continued to call for racial equality in the state through activism and journalism. This defiance cost the State Press tremendous losses in revenue. Advertisers and distributors refused to do business with the paper resulting in its closure in 1959.
Locally, Bates remained a target of segregationists while nationally, she gained notoriety and respect from peers. In 1957, the Associated Press named her Woman of the Year in Education. in 1963, she was the only woman to speak during the official program at the March on Washington. She energetically shared her vision and commitment with the crowd. “We will walk until we are free. We will walk until we can take our children to any school in the United States. And we will sit in, and we will kneel in, and we will lie in if necessary until every negro in American can vote.”
A Great Arkansan
When Bates passed away on November 4, 1999, she became the only African-American to lie in state at the Arkansas State Capitol. While Mrs. Bates endured constant harassment and criticism during the height of her civil rights activities, in recent years scholars and leaders throughout the world acknowledge her impact in the Civil Rights Movement.
On February 19, 2001, Arkansas became the first state to honor an African-American woman with a state holiday. The third Monday in February of every year (the same day as President's Day) is Daisy Gatson Bates day.
The home Bates shared with her husband L.C. was restored by the L.C. and Daisy Bates Museum Foundation Board and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2001. Five minutes away from the Bates home, Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive runs parallel to Philander Smith College, a historically black college known for its commitment to social justice. In 2012, filmmaker Sharon La Cruise produced a documentary about the heroine, Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock.
"Arkansas History." State Board of Education | Arkansas Department of Education. http://www.arkansased.gov/divisions/learning-services/curriculum-and-instruction/resource-materials-for-lesson-plans/arkansas-history (accessed June 29, 2017).
Bates, Daisy. The Long Shadow of Little Rock. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000.
Beals, Melba Pattillo. Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Central High. New York: Washington Square Books, 1994.
La Cruise, Sharon. Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock. Independent Lens. 2012. DVD.
"National Register of Historic Places." National Parks Service. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/SearchResults/ (accessed June 29, 2017).
Stockley, Grif. "Bates, Daisy Lee Gatson."
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=591 (accessed June 29, 2017).
Donna Shelton is the academic editor and web manager at the UA Little Rock Office of the Provost. She gained a Master of Arts in Public History and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism at UA Little Rock.