Lucius Christopher Bates (April 27, 1904 – August 22, 1980) was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

civil rights activist and the husband of Daisy Bates. He founded the ''Arkansas State Press'' newspaper with his wife in 1941. He was an active member of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

and was one of the plaintiffs in the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

case ''

Cooper v. Aaron ''Cooper v. Aaron'', 358 U.S. 1 (1958), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, which denied the school board of Little Rock, Arkansas, the right to delay racial desegregation for 30 months. On September 12, 1958, th ...

'', which was filed by the NAACP so the decision made by the court in the '' Brown v. Board of Education'' case would be properly enforced.

Early life

Lucious Christopher Bates was born April 27, 1904, in

Liberty, Mississippi Liberty is a town in Amite County, Mississippi. It is part of the McComb, Mississippi McComb micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area. It has a population of 728 according to the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Amite County. The tow ...

, to Laura and Morris Bates, the latter of whom was a farmer, carpenter, and minister. The Bates family were some of the few blacks in the area. Due to the position Rev. Morris Bates held in the community and the respect the residents had for him, Bates was allowed to attend but not enroll into the local white school. The family would later move to

Indianola, Mississippi Indianola is a U.S. city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta. The population was 10,683 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sunflower County. History In 1891, Minnie M. Cox was appointed postmaster of Indianola, b ...

where Bates was enrolled into a black public school. Bates would finish high school at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, which was not uncommon at that time. After high school, Bates would study journalism at Alcorn A&M College in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in t ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

for a year before dropping out. Bates worked a series of newspaper jobs after dropping out of college. He later changed careers and worked as a traveling salesman, selling insurance and novelty advertising. Bates moved to

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

where he would meet his first wife, Kassandra Crawford. The young couple would marry in 1924 then relocate to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. They had one daughter together - Loretta Ann Bates Carter. By the time they had split in 1930, Bates had already met his second wife - Daisy Lee Gatson. Gatson was fifteen at the time of their meeting. They would reunite a few years later when she was 17 and begin dating. Bates and Gatson would marry March 4, 1942 in Fordyce, Arkansas. Afterwards, they moved to

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

''Arkansas State Press''

After moving to

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, Bates retained a love for journalism. If he worked in a journalistic job, he would not have the freedom to fight political and socio-economic injustices. He reasoned, "If I owned the paper, I wouldn't lose my job." In 1941, Bates and his wife would use their savings to purchase the black operated ''Twin City Press'', later renamed ''Arkansas State Press''. The ''State Press'' advocated for

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

and covered black involvement in sports, social events, politics and entertainment. In addition, the ''State Press'' talked about police brutality the harsh treatment of black citizens, attacking racial injustice. The first issue was released May 9, 1941 with the motto: "This paper stands for honesty, justice and fair play. And it stands behind what it stands for." In the second issue, the ''State Press'' addressed the lack of employment opportunities for black residents in Arkansas as well as the nation. During this time, Europe was caught in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The United States was not involved yet, but the countries defense was being developed. When defense industries started locating to Arkansas, blacks were denied employment. This prompted Bates to write a response in the ''State Press'', telling the federal government they should use blacks in the national defense program as safeguards against saboteurs and fifth columnists. "Place Negroes as guards on munitions factories, shipyards, airplane works...This is no time to quibble with stupid prejudice, our national defense is more important than unreasonable racial antagonisms." For eighteen years the newspaper was an influence in the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. The newspaper would eventually close in 1959.

Activism

Outside of producing the ''State Press'', Bates was active in Little Rock's

Arkansas branch and served as head of the Legal Redress Committee in 1950.

References

External links

L. C. Bates Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, L. C. 1904 births 1980 deaths People from Liberty, Mississippi American activists