Daisy Bates: Civil Rights Crusader from Arkansas (Margaret Walker Alexander Series in African American Studies) (Hardcover)

~ Grif Stockley (Author) "While mystery and controversy surround the early years of the life of Daisy Bates, the town of Huttig in extreme southern Arkansas had little mystery..." (more)
Key Phrases: Little Rock, State Press, New York (more...)

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Product Description

Daisy Bates (1914-1999) has long been renowned as the mentor of the Little Rock Nine, the first African Americans to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. For her work guiding the Nine through one of the most tumultuous civil rights crises of the 1950s, she was selected as 1957 Woman of the Year in Education by the Associated Press, and was the only woman invited to speak at the Lincoln Memorial ceremony in Martin Luther King’s March on Washington in 1963. But her importance as a historical figure has been overlooked by scholars of the civil rights movement.

Daisy Bates: Civil Rights Crusader from Arkansas chronicles her childhood, her marriage, her co-founding of the Arkansas State Press with her husband L.C. Bates, and her political advocacy before, during, and well after the Central High School crisis. An orphan from the southern Arkansas mill town of Huttig, she eventually rose to the zenith of civil rights action in the South. In 1952, she was elected president of the NAACP in Arkansas and traveled the country speaking on civil rights and political issues. During the 1960s and 1970s, she worked as a field organizer for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson to get out the black vote. Even after a series of strokes, she continued her work, orchestrating the affairs of numerous self-help and economic initiatives in Arkansas.

Using interviews, archival records, contemporary newspaper accounts, and other materials, author Grif Stockley reconstructs Bates's life and career, revealing her to be a complex, contrary leader of the civil rights movement. Her struggles with family, marriage, and community leaders are given the nuanced treatment they deserve. Ultimately, Daisy Bates paints a vivid portrait of an ardent, overlooked advocate of social justice.

From the Publisher

This biography of the courageous mentor to the Little Rock Nine:

---Provides first full-length biography of Civil Rights crusader Daisy Bates since her own autobiography, published four decades ago

---Spans the entire life of this often overlooked Civil Rights activist, not just the notable Little Rock Central High School crisis

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi (October 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578068010
• ISBN-13: 978-1578068012
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,127,989 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Daisy Bates: Civil Rights Crusader from Arkansas, February 23, 2009

By	Sidney E. Welch DDS (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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As a student in Nashville, Tn, in 1957,I watched in awe, seeing the very good-looking woman Daisy Bates lead the LITTLE ROCK NINE against howling mobs who had to be held in check by Airborne Infantry. I wondered "What lies ahead."
Six years later I would draw upon {Their} examples of personal courage as I helped orchestrate Martin Luther King and personally lead the "Foot Soldiers" against the billy clubs,attack dogs, and fire-hoses during the furious civil rights campaign in Birmingham, Alabama.
I bought the tandem selection Daisy Bates.../ Turn Away Thy Son... from Amazon. I read the first one "real good." I will not read the book with Liz Eckford's picture on the cover (Old men have to be careful about crying too much).
The television media now teaches us that only preachers conducted the Civil Rights Movement in America. These books will help show that Daisy and some other women paved the way and showed the way.