L. C. Bates

Lucius Christopher Bates (April 27, 1904 – August 22, 1980) was an 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 and was one of the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case Cooper v. Aaron, 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, 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. Bates moved to Omaha, Nebraska where he would meet his first wife, Kassandra Crawford. Gatson was fifteen at the time of their meeting.

Activism Outside of producing the State Press, Bates was active in Little Rock's NAACP Arkansas branch and served as head of the Legal Redress Committee in 1950.