Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HR1025 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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3	3	State of Arkansas 1
4	4	95th General Assembly 2
5	5	Regular Session, 2025 HR 1025 3
6	6	4
7	7	By: Representative Steele 5
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10	10	HOUSE RESOLUTION 8
11	11	TO RECOGNIZE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2025, AS DAISY 9
12	12	GATSON BATES DAY AND ALSO PRESIDENT'S DAY, AND TO 10
13	13	HONOR DAISY GATSON BATES FOR HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO 11
14	14	ARKANSAS, THE NATION, AND THE WORLD, NOW MEMORIALIZED 12
15	15	IN THE DISPLAY OF HER STATUE AT THE NATIONAL STATUARY 13
16	16	HALL COLLECTION IN THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL. 14
17	17	15
18	18	16
19	19	Subtitle 17
20	20	TO RECOGNIZE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2025, 18
21	21	AS DAISY GATSON BATES DAY, AND TO HONOR 19
22	22	DAISY GATSON BATES FOR HER CONTRIBUTIONS 20
23	23	TO ARKANSAS, THE NATION, AND THE WORLD, 21
24	24	NOW MEMORIALIZED IN THE DISPLAY OF HER 22
25	25	STATUE IN THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL. 23
26	26	24
27	27	WHEREAS, Daisy Gatson Bates Day is observed annually in the State of 25
28	28	Arkansas on the same day as President's Day to honor the life of Daisy Gatson 26
29	29	Bates, a civil rights activist who played a prominent role during the 1957 27
30	30	integration crisis at Little Rock Central High School; and 28
31	31	29
32	32	WHEREAS, the life and legacy of Daisy Gatson Bates has been honored 30
33	33	previously by the General Assembly, including by Representative Steele during 31
34	34	the 2011 Regular Session in House Resolution 1013; and 32
35	35	33
36	36	WHEREAS, Daisy Gatson Bates was born in Huttig, Arkansas, in 1914, but 34
37	37	her mother was murdered in a racially motivated incident when Bates was just 35
38	38	three (3) years old, prompting Bates's lifelong interest in ending racial 36 HR1025
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41	41	injustice; and 1
42	42	2
43	43	WHEREAS, in 1941, Daisy Gatson Bates moved to Little Rock to start a 3
44	44	newspaper, the "Arkansas State Press" , in order to advocate for civil rights 4
45	45	and other important issues impacting Black Arkansans; and 5
46	46	6
47	47	WHEREAS, Daisy Gatson Bates and her husband, Lucious Christopher Bates, 7
48	48	worked closely with the Little Rock branch of the National Association for 8
49	49	the Advancement of Colored People, and in 1952 Bates was elected president of 9
50	50	the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Arkansas 10
51	51	State Conference; and 11
52	52	12
53	53	WHEREAS, Daisy Gatson Bates was already well -known as a civil rights 13
54	54	advocate in the Arkansas Black community when she came to the attention of 14
55	55	the rest of the state and the entire world as an advocate for public school 15
56	56	integration during the federal court case, Aaron v. Cooper, 143 F.Supp. 855 16
57	57	(E.D. Ark. 1956), that set the stage for the 1957 desegregation of Little 17
58	58	Rock Central High School; and 18
59	59	19
60	60	WHEREAS, Daisy Gatson Bates mentored and cared for the nine (9) Black 20
61	61	students, later known as the Little Rock Nine, who attended Little Rock 21
62	62	Central High School during the school year of 1957 -1958, functioning as the 22
63	63	principal spokesperson for the children and for school desegregation, as a 23
64	64	result of which she and her family suffered intimidation and physical 24
65	65	attacks; and 25
66	66	26
67	67	WHEREAS, Daisy Gatson Bates never wavered in her support of the Little 27
68	68	Rock Nine during their difficult first year at Little Rock Central High 28
69	69	School, a time in which all nine (9) students suffered verbal and physical 29
70	70	assaults from classmates, teachers, and other citizens of Arkansas; and 30
71	71	31
72	72	WHEREAS, in 1960, Daisy Gatson Bates moved to New York City and wrote a 32
73	73	memoir, "The Long Shadow of Little Rock", about her experience with the 33
74	74	Little Rock Nine and her efforts to desegregate public schools; and 34
75	75	35
76	76	WHEREAS, Daisy Gatson Bates later moved to Washington, D.C., where she 36 HR1025
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79	79	spoke at the March on Washington in 1963 and worked in the administration of 1
80	80	President Lyndon B. Johnson on antipoverty programs; and 2
81	81	3
82	82	WHEREAS, after suffering a stroke, Daisy Gatson Bates returned to 4
83	83	Arkansas in 1965 to advocate for economic self -sufficiency for poor Black 5
84	84	Arkansans, securing grants and donations for community improvements such as 6
85	85	sewer systems and Head Start programs; and 7
86	86	8
87	87	WHEREAS, following the death of Daisy Gatson Bates in 1999, a crowd of 9
88	88	more than two thousand (2,000) gathered at Robinson Auditorium in Little Rock 10
89	89	to honor her memory, at which event President William Jefferson "Bill" 11
90	90	Clinton compared Bates to a diamond that gets "chipped away and formed and 12
91	91	shines more brightly"; and 13
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93	93	WHEREAS, in 2001, the General Assembly enacted a provision recognizing 15
94	94	the third Monday in February as Daisy Gatson Bates Day, an official state 16
95	95	holiday; and 17
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97	97	WHEREAS, many streets in Arkansas towns, including in Little Rock, bear 19
98	98	the name of Daisy Gatson Bates; and 20
99	99	21
100	100	WHEREAS, in February 2012, the Public Broadcasting Service broadcast a 22
101	101	documentary called "Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock"; and 23
102	102	24
103	103	WHEREAS, in 2019, the General Assembly passed a law to replace the 25
104	104	statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol 26
105	105	with statues of Johnny Cash and of Daisy Gatson Bates; and 27
106	106	28
107	107	WHEREAS, the statue of Daisy Gatson Bates, created by artist Benjamin 29
108	108	Victor, was unveiled in the United States Capitol on May 8, 2024; and 30
109	109	31
110	110	WHEREAS, the statue of Daisy Gatson Bates depicts her walking forward 32
111	111	with a folded copy of the Arkansas State Press newspaper in her left hand and 33
112	112	a pen and notepad in her right hand, with a National Association for the 34
113	113	Advancement of Colored People pin on her left lapel and a rose on the left 35
114	114	side of her jacket, which is a symbol of Bates's continually blossoming 36 HR1025
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117	117	motivation for addressing racial inequality, 1
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119	119	NOW THEREFORE, 3
120	120	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY -FIFTH GENERAL 4
121	121	ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 5
122	122	6
123	123	THAT the House of Representatives recognize Monday, February 17, 2025, 7
124	124	as Daisy Gatson Bates Day and also President's Day, and honor Daisy Gatson 8
125	125	Bates for her contributions to Arkansas, the nation, and the world, now 9
126	126	memorialized in the display of her statue at the National Statuary Hall 10
127	127	Collection in the United States Capitol. 11
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