Daisy Gatson Bates Bust in Little Rock

Along the banks of the Arkansas River stands the bronze bust of one of Arkansas heroines, Daisy Gatson Bates.

Gatson Bates (1914-1999) grew up with foster parents in a segregated environment in Arkansas, learning about racism and discrimination against African-Americans firsthand.

In 1941, she and her husband settled down in Little Rock; she became an active member of the NAACP’s local branch and, several years later, its president. The Bates established the Arkansas State Press, writing about civil rights issues, promoting desegregation, and celebrating stories of inspiring black Arkansans.

In 1957, Bates decided to change the status quo after several years had passed since the Supreme Court’s decision that segregated schools were unconstitutional.

She chose nine students to enroll in the all-white Little Rock Central High School. She supported, protected, and mentored the students during the enrollment and school period, which later became known as the Little Rock Integration Crisis. Bates and the Little Rock Nine faced death threats and opposition from the white students’ parents, local mob groups, and the Arkansas government.

In 1960, after a year in which all the public schools in Little Rock were closed, they opened with no segregation. Bates stayed in touch with the Little Rock Nine through their years in school.

After years of activism work, Bates died in Little Rock at age 85. Read more about her life story here.

The bust was created by the renowned sculptress Jane DeDecker who also sculpted the other two monuments that honor women on the banks of the Arkansas River. The first is the Harriet Tubman statue, and the second is the Women’s Suffrage statue called Every Word We Utter, which commemorates the national suffrage leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Stanton Blatch, Sojourner Truth, Alice Paul, Ida B. Wells, alongside Little Rock’s Bernie Babcock, and Josephine Miller Brown.

Below the bust, a plaque reads: “When hate won’t die, use it for good.”

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