Courtesy of Library of Congress, Bates, Daisy, NAACP Records, December 17, 1957
Daisy Bates, civil rights activist, journalist and lecturer, wrote a letter on December 17, 1957, to then-NAACP Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins. The letter focused on the treatment of the nine African-American children, known as the "Little Rock Nine" at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. These students were the first to be enrolled at the school after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to segregate public schools. She describes how the treatment of the children by peers, educators and protestors was getting steadily worse, and they have endured a number of abuses, such as being spit on, kicked and heckled.
Transcript of Daisy Bates' Letter
Bates, Daisy, NAACP Records, December 17, 1957. Courtesy of Library of Congress
