DescriptionThis dissertation examines how Daisy Bates emerged as the leader and spokesperson for the 1957 Central High School desegregation crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas. While much is known about Bates’ activism during the desegregation showdown, scholars have not yet explored the early portion of her life and the role gender politics played in her rise to fame. The precursor and backstory to the events of 1957 is critical to fully understanding the role local African-American leaders organized and mobilized their communities against Jim Crow. Episodes like the Little Rock Crisis were not random, precipitous confrontations; they were the products of decades of black activism. Bates’ story is not just a narrative about the self-realization and creation of an individual, but, perhaps more importantly, a personal and political partnership she shared with her husband L.C. by recovering the history of the Bateses’ activities before 1957, this dissertation explains the role African-Americans played in the creation and development of leadership for the Civil Rights Movement.