Daisy Bates
Daisy Lee Gatson Bates (November 11, 1914 - November 4, 1999) 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 was ever prosecuted for the crime. Daisy was raised by friends of the family, Orlee and Susie Smith, who adopted her. They were kind and loving parents and gave Daisy a strong beginning. She experienced predjudism personally at age seven when attempting to buy meat. The butcher unfairly waited on all the white customers first and then said," Niggers have to wait for white folks". It wasn't until later that Daisy learned the Smith's were not her birth parents. When she realized 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." [1]
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 salesman 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 ridiculed 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. 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' moved to New York City to worked on her memoirs.
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, speaking across the country. In 1965, she suffered a stroke and returned to Little Rock. The stroke left her confined to a wheelchair, however it did not stop her relentless work for civil liberties.
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. Her husband remained in Little Rock during this time and Daisy commuted between cities to be with him. In 1980 L.C. passed away.
Bates revived the Arkansas State Press in 1984. Her memoir, The Long Shadow of Little Rock, won a 1988 American Book Award. It was given the honor on its reprint. This is almost unheard of.
Daisy Bates died in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 4, 1999, of a heart attack. She was 84 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." [1]
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.
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.
The Bates' home at 1207 West 28th St, Little Rock, AK is now a National Historic Landmark [2]. It was used as a command post for the "Little Rock Nine' incident. This was the first time that the President used federal powers to uphold and implement a federal court decision regarding school desegregation. This house had rocks thrown through the windows, bombs planted outside and even a cross burned on it's lawn by the KKK. It was a battleground for civil rights.
2007 marks the 50th Anniversary of the integration of Central High School. The NAACP's 7th Biennial Daisy Bates Education Summit will hold the theme, "Little Rock Central High l957:Honoring the Legacy, Facing the Challenge."
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.
Publications
Bates, Daisy. 1987. The Long Shadow of Little Rock: A Memoir. (originally published 1962, McKay). Reprinted, University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 0938626752
Notes
External links
- Daisy Bates House
- Daisy Bates organized the "Little Rock Nine" The African American Desk Reference. 1999. Schomburg Center for research in Black Culture, The Stonesong Press Inc., and The New York Public Library. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0471239240
- Daisy Bates at Gale Free Resources.
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