Daisy Lee Gatson Bates was born in the small southern Arkansas community of Huttig, in Union County, November 11, 1914. Typical of early twentieth century race relations, her natural parents experienced the violence and powerlessness of the rural South. Her mother was killed resisting the sexual advances of three local white men and her father left shortly thereafter. Daisy was reared by friends of the family, the only parents she ever knew.

In 1942, Daisy Lee Gatson married L. C. Bates (1901-1980) and settled in Little Rock. Born in Liberty, Amite County, Mississippi, L. C. Bates attended Alcorn A and M College (now Alcorn State University) in Alcorn, Mississippi, and Wilberforce University in Ohio. Although he was an insurance agent when Daisy met him, L. C. had previously worked for a Colorado newspaper for three years and later joined the staff of the Kansas City Call in Missouri. After working for newspapers in California and Memphis, he moved to Little Rock and established the weekly Arkansas State Press; the first issue appeared May 9, 1941. It became the largest and most influential black paper in the state.

During its eighteen-year history, the Arkansas State Press became a leading voice in the Civil Rights Movement. Unrelenting in its criticism, the paper attacked police brutality, segregation and the inequities of the criminal justice system. In 1948, the paper supported the candidacy of Sidney McMath for governor against segregationist Jack Holt and in 1952 supported former Governor Francis Cherry in his re-election bid against Orval Faubus.

The Bateses were members of the NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] from the time of their move to Little Rock. In 1952 Daisy was elected president of the Arkansas State Conference of NAACP branches. It was in this capacity that Daisy Bates became the advisor to the Little Rock Nine. The Little Rock School Board's desegregation plan, upheld by the District Federal Court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, was to begin September 1957 at the senior high school level at Central High School.

Because of their involvement in the integration of Central High, the subsequent loss of advertising revenue forced the Bateses to close the Arkansas State Press in 1959. In 1960, L. C. became NAACP field director for the state until his retirement in 1971. In 1960, Mrs. Bates moved to New York City and spent two years writing her memoirs of the Central High crisis. The Long Shadow of Little Rock was published in 1962 with an introduction by Eleanor Roosevelt. After completion of the book, Mrs. Bates moved to Washington, D.C, where she worked for the Democratic National Committee and for the Johnson Administration's anti-poverty programs. After suffering a stroke in 1965, she returned to Little Rock.

In 1968, Mrs. Bates moved to Mitchellville, Desha County, Arkansas, one mile north of Dumas. For six years she resided in a mobile home in the predominately black community. She was a community organizer for the Mitchellville Office of Economic Opportunity [OEO] Self-Help Project. Her efforts resulted in a new water system in 1970; installation of a sewer system in 1971; paved streets, including Main Street; and the completion of a community center and swimming pool in 1972.

In 1974, Mrs. Bates retired. After the death of her husband in 1980, she revived the Arkansas State Press in April 1984. She sold the paper in December 1987, but remained a consultant. Daisy Bates died on November 4, 1999.

Daisy Bates was the recipient of numerous awards and honors. The year following her retirement, the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas passed a resolution commending her for her outstanding service to the state. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in May, 1984. In 1986, the University of Arkansas Press published a reprint edition of Mrs. Bates's memoirs The Long Shadow of Little Rock and in the spring of 1988, the book was the recipient of the American Book Award, the first time that honor has been bestowed on a reprint edition.