Summary Information
Daisy Bates Papers
1946-1966
Mss 523; Micro 801; Audio 814A; PH Mss 523; PH Mss 523 (3); M93-074
2.2 cubic feet (6 archives boxes), 6 reels of microfilm (35 mm), 4 tape recordings, 123 photographs (1 archives box and 1 oversize folder) and 0.2 cubic feet of realia (1 box)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of Daisy Bates, a civil rights activist who as head of the Arkansas NAACP was a leading figure in the desegregation of the Little Rock schools in 1957. Included in the collection are general correspondence, primarily relating to her speaking engagements and writing; speeches and biographical statements; and copies of drafts to her memoir The Long Shadow of Little Rock (1962). Also includes copies of clippings pertaining to Daisy Bates, L.C. Bates, her husband, and the school desegregation crisis in general; research files on the nine students who integrated Central High School; behavioral record cards of many Central High School students (1955-1958); Arkansas and Little Rock NAACP records; a few audio recordings; and photographs documenting the activities of Daisy Bates and her involvement in the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School.
There is a restriction on access and use of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00523 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Daisy Bates (née Daisy Lee Gatson) was born 11 November 1914 [1] in the southern Arkansas town of Huttig, in Union County. When she was a small child, her mother was attacked and killed by three white men; Daisy's grieving father subsequently left the child with friends, Orlee and Susie Gatson (or Smith), who raised her. Daisy attended public schools in Huttig, and later at Shorter College and Philander Smith College both in Little Rock, where she studied business and economics. In Memphis in 1941 or 1942, she married L.C. (Lucius Christopher) Bates, a journalist working as an insurance salesman, who had been a friend of her foster father. The Bates moved to Little Rock shortly after their marriage, where they founded the weekly newspaper, the Arkansas State Press, with L.C. as editor and publisher, and Daisy as co-publisher and manager.
Daisy Bates was a member of several organizations, including the Arkansas Council of Human Relations, Urban League, YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) , National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), and the AME Church (African Methodist Episcopal Church). Both she and her husband were active in the Little Rock and Arkansas NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People); she served as president of the Arkansas NAACP from 1952 until 1961, and in 1963 was chosen as a member of the NAACP national board. The couple had a foster son, Clyde Cross Bates, who lived with them from 1951 to 1957. He was never formally adopted, and when the Bates came under attack in 1957, they were forced to return the boy to his own family.
In August 1956, following a suit brought by 33 parents, the United States District Court approved the Little Rock School District school desegregation plan of May 1955. Integration was ordered to begin in the senior high schools on September 3, 1957, and was to be extended to all schools by 1963. After further legal actions, on September 2, Governor Orval E. Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard and State Police to surround Little Rock Central High School, which was targeted for integration, to “prevent disorder.” The all-black high school, Horace Mann, was not affected by his order. In a speech delivered that evening, Governor Faubus declared that “blood will run in the streets” if black students tried to enter Central High School.
In response to an appeal by NAACP attorneys Wiley Branton and Thurgood Marshall, a Federal judge ordered integration to proceed as scheduled, but the nine students who attempted to enter Central on September 4 were stopped by the troops. Violent demonstrations of white opposition to desegregation ensued, and Governor Faubus daily helped spur the segregation sentiment. Finally, on September 20, Faubus withdrew the National Guard in compliance with a Federal Court injunction obtained by the NAACP. The violence escalated in the vicinity of the high school however, and on September 24 President Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Paratroop Division to Central High School and federalized the 10,000 men of the Arkansas National Guard, to protect the black students. Under military guard, the “Little Rock Nine” students completed the remainder of the school year.
Prior to the end of the 1957-1958 school year, the Little Rock School Board again petitioned the Federal District Court for a delay in integration at Central until January 1961. In August 1958, the United States Circuit Court reversed the decree granting a delay and ordered integration to begin in September. Governor Faubus responded by calling a special session of the state legislature for passage of several segregation bills, among them a bill empowering the governor to close any or all schools in any school district. After an appeal of the integration order to the United States Supreme Court failed on September 11, 1958, Governor Faubus ordered Little Rock's high schools closed. Despite the efforts of Little Rock citizens, both black and white, to have the schools reopened, they remained closed for the entire 1958-1959 school year.
Although the operation of the schools resumed in the fall of 1959, many of the original nine students had gone elsewhere to complete their education. Their families, too, felt the pressure of the opposition, and some left Little Rock to find other jobs and homes. Those who remained endured various forms of intimidation, including arrests, shootings, and bombings. As a friend, and as head of the Arkansas NAACP, Daisy Bates provided support and encouragement to the students and was in daily communication with their parents, school officials, and the local and national NAACP offices. The Bates’ also suffered physical and emotional abuse from white opponents, and in late October 1959, were forced by declining revenues and a boycott by white advertisers to suspend publication of the Arkansas State Press.
Daisy Bates spent much of the next two years in New York City, or on speaking engagements throughout the country. In 1962, her reminiscences of the desegregation crisis were published as The Long Shadow of Little Rock. For a time, her husband L.C. Bates worked in Louisiana as a field secretary for the NAACP. And Daisy Bates moved to Washington, D.C. for a few years, to work for the Democratic National Committee and antipoverty projects for Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration.
Daisy Bates returned to Little Rock in the mid-1960s and spent most of her time on community projects. After the death of her husband in 1980 she resurrected their newspaper Arkansas State Press from 1984 to 1988. Daisy Bates died on November 4, 1999, in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Daisy Bates have been arranged in eight major series: General Correspondence; Speeches and Statements; The Long Shadow of Little Rock: drafts and manuscripts; Little Rock School Integration Crisis; NAACP Records; Reference and Subject Files; Audio Recordings; and Photographs.
The GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE primarily consists of letters regarding speaking engagements, honors and awards dinners and programs, and similar social correspondence. A few letters from the early 1950s are personal in nature, while correspondence from the period after publication of Mrs. Bates' book mainly deals with accolades she received, promotion of book sales, and autograph parties. She received many letters during and immediately after the 1957 desegregation of Central High School; many writers admired her stance and her efforts, and commiserated with her about obstacles they encountered. There is also a small amount of hate mail present.
Mrs. Bates' SPEECHES AND STATEMENTS include biographical sketches and resumes, as well as typewritten and annotated copies of speeches delivered before clubs, organizations, awards dinners, and the like. Approximately half of the speeches are dated; others are not, and may have been drafts of later, dated versions. Also includes fragments of speeches and notes, as well as speeches of other individuals. There are also programs from many of the occasions when Mrs. Bates spoke, appeared on the program, or was a prominent sponsor of an event.
THE LONG SHADOW OF LITTLE ROCK: Drafts and Manuscripts series contain notes, partial and complete drafts of many stages of the manuscript, and, for many chapters, the final version as well. These are arranged by chapter, or by groups of chapters, where possible, but often it could not be determined which draft was early or which later. Most of the pages bear handwritten annotations, some by Mrs. Bates, some apparently by her typist, and others by unnamed reviewers. The manuscripts and drafts have been microfilmed for preservation. Included with this series is a folder containing reviews of the book and other promotional material.
Records of the LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL INTEGRATION CRISIS contain microfilmed student files concerning the “Little Rock Nine” students. These consist of typewritten reports, apparently compiled by Mrs. Bates, of incidents, harassment, and intimidation suffered by the students. Also included are letters received by the students from supporters, copies of their replies, and other material pertaining to them or to their families. A folder of incidents, general reports, and memos contains summary reports of the events which occurred at Central, and copies of memos written by the school administration and staff. A scholarship fund was established for the benefit of the students, and papers relating to donations, expenditures, and the students' college experiences, are also included. Other student records are comprised of record cards of Central High School students, 1955-1958, which may have been the official school records. With these are typewritten cards created by Mrs. Bates and indicating which white students harassed the nine black students. All the cards are arranged alphabetically by the students' surnames, and each contains a record of misbehavior, punishments, and, occasionally, personal comments about the student. Two student directories from the high school are also included.
Also in this series are microfilmed newspaper clippings illustrating the desegregation of Central High School and its aftermath, 1956-1963. Many of these clippings came from the two Little Rock daily newspapers, Arkansas Gazette and Arkansas Democrat, with others from the Bates' paper, Arkansas State Press, and from other papers throughout the country. A folder of printed articles, pamphlets, and clippings presents retrospective views of the events of 1957. Also included are several news clippings pertaining to Daisy Bates. A few of these date from the late 1940s and early 1950s and concern her role as publisher and manager of the State Press; the 1946 contempt of court conviction of the Bates’; the 1952 “Spirit of Cotton” promotional tour, when she acted as chaperone; and her early NAACP activities. Clippings from the late 1950s and 1960s illustrate Mrs. Bates' involvement with the “Little Rock Nine” and the events surrounding desegregation, her speaking tours, awards received, publicity about the publication of her memoirs, and other material. All the clippings are arranged in chronological order by date of publication, with undated clippings filmed at the end of each section.
Finally, the realia are a rock with threatening note stating: THE NEXT WILL BE DYNAMITE K.K.K. The rock and note were wrapped in a rag which was thrown through Daisy and L.C. Bates’ window in August 1957 during the Little Rock School Integration Crisis.
The NAACP RECORDS contain a variety of material concerning both the Little Rock and Arkansas State Conference Branches, and the national board of the NAACP. The national records include administrative papers received by Mrs. Bates during her tenure on the national board, and include minutes of meetings, printed memos, and financial statements. A file of speeches delivered at national NAACP conferences is also present. Legal documents, correspondence, and other papers regarding NAACP court cases deal primarily with the attempts of the state attorney general to force the Arkansas NAACP to register with his office. Other cases involve the Bates as officers of the NAACP. Records of the Arkansas State Conference of Branches include correspondence, both typewritten and printed; conference programs, press releases, financial records, and other administrative papers. Transcripts of phone conversations between Mrs. Bates and NAACP officials in New York, and of a tape-recorded discussion (audio not available here) between NAACP officer Clarence Laws and the nine students, reveal the close contact of the two organizations, and the assistance provided by the national office in 1957 and 1958. News clippings of NAACP events and activities, 1952-1962, have also been microfilmed.
A small REFERENCE AND SUBJECT FILE contains material related to the school desegregation crisis and other topics. Miscellaneous news clippings, primarily concerning white opposition in Little Rock, copies of proposed segregation legislation, and a folder of printed items for mass distribution, comprise the collection's anti-integration records. There is also a folder regarding the Arkansas State Press, its demise, and L.C. Bates. Records of the Arkansas Council of Human Relations are included because of Mrs. Bates' work with the organization.
The AUDIO RECORDINGS in the collection contain portions of an interview with Mrs. Bates, a general discussion of the Little Rock situation in 1957 or 1958, speeches from an awards presentation, and a taped political speech by Governor Faubus. Further description of the tapes may be found in the contents list. Some of the recordings are of poor quality. A portion of the interview (Audio 814A/4) is available online.
The PHOTOGRAPHS document Mrs. Bates' activities during and after the desegregation of Central High School as well as the incident itself and the Little Rock Nine. Images of Mrs. Bates include portraits and snapshots of her alone and with prominent politicians and civil rights leaders including Orval Faubus, W. Averell Harriman, President Dwight Eisenhower, and Ralph H. Bunch, Secretary General of the United Nations. Other photographs show her at speaking engagements, presentations and events, and during a promotional event for her book. Also included are images of her husband, L.C. Bates, and construction of their home in Little Rock and its vandalism. Photographs documenting the events at Central High School include images of the Little Rock Nine, their first attempt to enter school, the protests and violence that surrounded the event, and troops sent to protect them. The collection also includes photographs made for Life magazine stories about the Little Rock Nine and the desegregation of the school. Other photographs include images related to the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), 1951-1953 and numerous identified and unidentified individuals with possible connections to the Little Rock Nine and/or Mrs. Bates including NAACP attorneys Wiley Branton and Thurgood Marshall; Effie Jones, the first African American student to enter Hall High School in Little Rock; and educator Mary Wilber Weeks-Burroughs.
Administrative/Restriction Information
For access to Rock and Note (M93-074) see Archives Reference.
Individuals or corporate bodies other than the Wisconsin Historical Society hold the copyright for a portion of the photographs in this collection. Permission from the appropriate copyright holder(s) may be required before reproducing photographs from this collection.
Presented by Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Bates, Little Rock, Arkansas, 1966. Accession Number: M66-392
Papers processed by Menzi Behrnd Klodt, March 1980. Photographs processed by Keidra Chaney and Nicolette Bromberg, 1997, and by David Benjamin, 2009.
Contents List
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Mss 523
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Series: General Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
1-7
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1952-1958
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Box
2
Folder
1-6
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1959-1961
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Box
3
Folder
1-2
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1962-1966, undated
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Series: Speeches and Statements
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Box
3
Folder
3
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Biographical data (compiled by Daisy Bates)
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Box
3
Folder
4-8
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Speeches and statements, 1957-1966, undated
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Box
3
Folder
9
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Fragments of speeches, undated
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Box
4
Folder
1
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Speeches and statements of others, 1957, 1959, undated
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Box
4
Folder
2-3
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Programs, 1952, 1957-1964
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Series: The Long Shadow of Little Rock : drafts and manuscripts
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Micro 801
Reel
1-3
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Book drafts
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Mss 523
Box
4
Folder
4
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Book reviews and publicity, 1962-1963
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Series: Little Rock School Integration Crisis
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Micro 801
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Student files
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“The Little Rock Nine”
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Reel
6
Frame
1-36
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Brown, Minnijean, 1957-1959
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Reel
6
Frame
37-47
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Eckford, Elizabeth, 1957-1959
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Reel
6
Frame
48-52
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Green, Ernest, 1957-1958
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Reel
6
Frame
53-54
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Mothershed, Thelma, 1958-1959
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Reel
6
Frame
55-65
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Patillo, Melba, 1957-1959
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Reel
6
Frame
66-68
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Ray, Gloria, 1957-1958
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Reel
6
Frame
69-80
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Roberts, Terrence, 1957-1958
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Reel
6
Frame
81-264
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Thomas, Jefferson, 1957-1960
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Reel
6
Frame
265-277
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Walls, Carlotta, 1957-1958
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Reel
6
Frame
278-398
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Incidents, general reports, and memos, 1957-1960
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Reel
6
Frame
399-482
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Scholarship fund and college expenses, 1960-1961
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Little Rock Central High School
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Reel
6
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Student record cards, 1955-1958
: Numbered pages 1-95.
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Reel
6
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Student directories, 1957-1960
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Reel
4-5
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“The Crisis,” 1956-1963
: Numbered pages 1-243.
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Mss 523
Box
4
Folder
5
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“The Crisis” : retrospective views, 1957
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Micro 801
Reel
5
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Daisy Bates, news clippings, 1946, 1948, 1951-1952, 1954-1966
: Numbered pages 1-80.
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M93-074
Box
1
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Rock with threatening note: Photograph of rock, note, and rag available online. : For access consult Archives Reference staff.
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Series: NAACP Records
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Mss 523
Box
4
Folder
6
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Address and phone directory (National NAACP)
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Box
4
Folder
7-8
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Administrative records (National NAACP), 1957-1962
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Court cases
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Box
6
Folder
1
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Aaron et al. v. Cooper et al., 1956-1958
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Box
6
Folder
2
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Bates v. State of Arkansas; State Press Co., Inc. v. Willett, M.D., 1946
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Box
6
Folder
3
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Bates v. City of Little Rock; Williams v. City of North Little Rock, 1959-1960
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Box
6
Folder
4
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State of Arkansas v. NAACP; NAACP v. Bennett; and related material, 1957-1958
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Box
4
Folder
9
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National proposal regarding segregation, 1961
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Box
6
Folder
5
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Speeches delivered at NAACP conferences (National NAACP), 1956-1961
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Box
6
Folder
6
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Statements, policies and other material (National NAACP), 1960
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Box
4
Folder
10
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Arkansas state conferences of branches, records, 1954-1965
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Box
5
Folder
1
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Arkansas attorney authorization forms and petitions, 1955
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Box
5
Folder
2
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Transcripts of phone conversations between Little Rock and New York, 1957-1958, 1959
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Box
5
Folder
3
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Transcript of tape recorded discussion between Clarence Laws and the “Little Rock Nine,” 1957
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Micro 801
Reel
5
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News clippings concerning the Arkansas State Conference of Branches, and Little Rock NAACP, 1952-1962
: Numbered pages 1-30.
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Mss 523
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Series: Reference and Subject Files
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Box
5
Folder
4
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Addresses and telephone numbers
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Box
5
Folder
5
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Arkansas Council on Human Relations, 1958-1959, 1966
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Box
5
Folder
6
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Arkansas Gazette and its editorial position in the Little Rock School Crisis, 1957
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Box
5
Folder
7
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Arkansas schools, reference data, 1950
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Box
5
Folder
8
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Arkansas segregation bills, 1956, 1958
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Box
5
Folder
9
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Arkansas State Press, 1956-1957, 1959
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Box
5
Folder
10
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Miscellaneous
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Micro 801
Reel
5
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Miscellaneous news clippings, 1956-1963
: Numbered pages 1-31.
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Mss 523
Box
5
Folder
11
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Ogden, Dunbar H., 1959-1960
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Box
5
Folder
12
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Report of the investigation of the bombing of the Walls' home,
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Box
5
Folder
13
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White and black opposition, 1954-1959
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Audio 814A
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Series: Audio Recordings
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Audio
814A/1
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General discussion of the Little Rock situation, undated
: General discussion of the Little Rock situation, government, segregation, Central High School, and the actions of officials; between an unidentified man and two unidentified women, perhaps taped in a restaurant or other public place. Sound is fuzzy in places, and there is background music throughout.
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Audio
814A/1
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American Veterans Committee awards presentation, 1958 January 26
: Also on Reel 1 are speeches and awards from the American Veterans Committee presentation of Americanism Awards to the “Little Rock Nine”, Little Rock. Tape ends just as awards are being presented.
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Audio
814A/2
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Telecast of Governor Faubus
: A political telecast of Governor Faubus, taped from television, discussing the Little Rock situation and other matters. Dates from the period of the Little Rock school board election.
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Audio
814A/3-4
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Castro speech, 26 September 1960
: Two tapes of the 26 September 1960 speech of Fidel Castro before the United Nations, in Spanish, with simultaneous English translation, taken from television or radio, and with background voices.
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Audio
814A/4
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Interview with Daisy Bates, 1957 or 1958: Interview with Daisy Bates, also available online. : Castro's speech ends and the remainder of the tape consists of an interview with Daisy Bates, sometime in 1957 or 1958, regarding the Little Rock crisis and the nine students. The interviewer's questions are difficult to hear, and part of the interview was recorded over part of the speech.
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PH Mss 523
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Daisy Bates
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Portraits and snapshots
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Box
1
Folder
2
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L.C. Bates and others
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Prominent politicians and civil rights leaders
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Box
1
Folder
4-8
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Speaking engagements, presentations, events, 1959, 1962-1963, undated
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PH Mss 523 (3)
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Oversize photograph
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PH Mss 523
Box
1
Folder
9
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L.C. Bates, 1959, 1962-1963, undated
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Box
1
Folder
10
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Bates house
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Little Rock Nine students
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Box
1
Folder
11
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Melba Patillo [Beals]
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Box
1
Folder
12
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Minnijean Brown
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Box
1
Folder
13
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Elizabeth Eckford
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Box
1
Folder
14
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Thelma Mothershed
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Box
1
Folder
15
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Gloria Ray
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Box
1
Folder
16
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Terrance Roberts
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Box
1
Folder
17
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Jefferson Thomas
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Box
1
Folder
18
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Carlotta Walls
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Box
1
Folder
19
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Group photographs
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Box
1
Folder
20
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Central High School integration attempts/aftermath
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Box
1
Folder
21-23
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Life magazine photographs
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PH Mss 523 (3)
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Oversize photographs
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PH Mss 523
Box
1
Folder
24
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National Council of Negro Women, 1951-1953
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Box
1
Folder
25
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Identified people
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Box
1
Folder
26
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Unidentified people
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Notes:
[1]
This date was disputed and previously listed as 1922. See Box 3, folder 3 “Biographical Data.”
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