Daisy Bates
Daisy Lee Gatson Bates (born November 11, 1914 in Huttig, Arkansas - November 4, 1999 in Little Rock, Arkansas) was an American civil rights leader, journalist, publisher, and author.
Life
Daisy Bates was born on November 11, 1914 at Huttig, Arkansas. Huttig was referred to as a "plantation town". People in town made a living at the mill, rented houses owned by the mill and even bought their food from mill-owned stores.
When Daisy was a baby her mother, Sarah Gatson, was killed while resisting three local white men. They brutally attacked and killed her, throwing her body into a nearby pond. Her father, Hezakiah Gatson, was forced to leave shortly after her mother's death, because he feared reprisals from angry whites who did not want him to prosecute the suspects. Noone ever was. Daisy was raised by friends of the family, Orlee and Susie Smith, who adopted her. It wasn't until later that Daisy learned the Smith's were not her real parents. When she relized that her mother had been killed in such a tragic way, she secretly vowed to vindicate her mother's death. She harbored much hatred toward white people.
Daisy's adoptive father disapproved of her hatred towards whites, and at his bedside, shortly before his death, he spoke these words to her, "Hate can destroy you. Don't hate white people just because they're white. If you hate, make it count for something. Hate the humiliations we are living under in the South. Hate the discrimination that eats away at the soul of every black man and woman. Hate the insults hurled at us by white scum—and then try to do something about it, or your hate won't spell a thing." 2
Bates said of her father's message, "He had passed on to me a priceless heritage—one that was to sustain me throughout the years to come. I've never forgotten that incident. I decided I would do what I could to help my race."
When Daisy was only 15 years old, she fell in love with an insurance saleman named Lucius Christopher (L.C.) Bates. On March 4, 1942 they were married in Fordyce, AR.
Work
It was her husband's desire to start a newspaper and eventually, he took the opportunity to do that. Daisy and L.C. started the "Arkansas State Press", renting space at a local church. On May 9, 1941 they printed their first issue. Although she rarely wrote for the paper, Daisy gradually became active in its operations and was named by her husband as city editor in 1945.
"The Arkansas State Press" was a channel for many persecuted people to get their stories told. These included many black soldiers who, even though they fought for their country during WWII, were riduculed and even sometimes tortured when they returned home. Arkansas State Press, publicized violations of the US Supreme Court's desegregation rulings.
In 1952, Daisy Bates was elected president of the Arkansas State Conference of NAACP branches.
Bates and her husband L.C. Bates were important figures in the Little Rock Integration Crisis in 1957 known as the "Blossom Plan". Nine students, age 14-16, attempted to enroll in Little Rock Central High School. This provoked a confrontation with Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, who called out the National Guard to prevent the students from enrolling. Bates guided and advised the nine students, known as the Little Rock Nine. She took them into protective custody. On their first day of school September 23,l957, the students were escorted by the Federal National Guard to school. The students were greeted by mobs of angry white students, photographers, and reporters. Daisy continued to supervise the education of these students. Although she never had any of her own children she considered these children her own. Ernest Green was the first black student to graduate of the "nine" among 601 students.
Daisy's involvement in the Little Rock Crisis resulted in the loss of much advertising revenue to their newspaper. They were accused of not providing proper identification for the students. Public sentiment was aggitated to such a degree that business with the paper dropped off. Closure of the Arkansas State Press,(1959 ), was imminent. The following year Bates' then moved to New York City. Here Daisy worked on her memoirs for her book.
Their next move was to Washington, D.C. where Daisy worked for the Democratic National Committee. She served in the administration of President Lyndon Baines Johnson on anti-poverty programs. In 1965, she suffered a stroke and returned to Little Rock. After L.C.passed away, she kept on with her mission as a civil rights leader.
In 1968, she moved into a mobile home in a rural black community of Mitchellville, Arkansas, in Desha County. She concentrated on improving the lives of her neighbors by establishing a self-help program which was responsible for new sewer systems, paved streets, a water system, and community center.
Bates revived the Arkansas State Press in 1984. Her memoir, The Long Shadow of Little Rock, won a 1988 American Book Award. It was on a reprint which is almost unheard of.
Daisy Bates died in Little Rock, Arkansas on 4 November 1999. She was 88 years old. Vice President Al Gore provided a final tribute to Daisy Bates, a twentieth century civil rights pioneer: "Her commitment to civil rights was a life-long endeavor. She served as the president of the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP and spoke with eloquence at the March on Washington in 1963. Over the course of her life, she received many awards for her work. But I think most Americans agree that Daisy will be remembered more for what she gave than what she received." 2
Legacy
Although well known in the black community, Bates came to the attention of white Arkansans as a civil rights advocate in 1956 during the pre-trial proceedings of the federal court case, Aaron v. Cooper, which set the stage for the 1957 desegregation of Central High School.
Bates remained at the center of the desegregation battle on behalf of the NAACP and the civil rights movement in Arkansas until June 1960 when she moved to New York to write a memoir of her desegregation experiences in Little Rock, The Long Shadow of Little Rock.
Daisy Bates prominence as one of the few female civil rights leaders of the period was recognized by her selection as the only female to speak at the Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963.
In May 2000, a crowd of more than 2,000 gathered in Robinson Auditorium in Little Rock to honor her memory. At this event, President Bill Clinton acknowledged her achievements, comparing her to a diamond that gets “chipped away in form and shines more brightly.” In 2001, the Arkansas legislature enacted a provision that recognizes the third Monday in February as “Daisy Gatson Bates Day.” Thus, her memory (along with those of American presidents) is celebrated on that date as an official state holiday. There are streets in various towns in Arkansas, including Little Rock, which bear her name.
Honors and awards
- 1988 American Book Award
- Arkansas General Assembly Commendation
- Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, University of Arkansas
- Diamond Cross of Malta from the Philadelphia Cotillion Society
- Arkansas has established the third Monday in February as "George Washington's Birthday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day," an official state holiday.
- The street that runs in front of Little Rock Central High School has been renamed for her.
- The Daisy Bates Elementary School in Little Rock is named in her honor.
Credits
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