Elizabeth Bates Research Paper

Parents of the nine African American students contacted Daisy Bates who was the local leader of the NAACP, owned, and ran the State Press one of the town’s newspapers. The parents were scared of violence and asked her for advice on what to do. The parents were not scared for violence towards them but against their children attending the school. According to Bates, D. (1987), the mother of Elizabeth Echford remembered when she was a child in 1927 that she and a friend walked up on a crowd on the street who had beaten a young black boy then dragged him through the streets and set him on fire. As horrifying as that was, Mrs. Bates assured her that the town of Little Rock was different now and that the National Guard would protect the children.

That the Governor stated that the National Guard was there to stop the violence. Superintendent Blossom contacted the nine student’s parents to have a meeting about the students attending Little Rock Central High School and the parents asked Mrs. Daisy to attend.
The afternoon of September 3, 1957 the day before the African American students were to start school Superintendent Blossom announced at the meeting that the students should attend their first day of school in morning. He further announced that the students’ parents should not take them; he was afraid that would cause violence and that no one would hurt the children. Superintendent Blossom statement did not make the parents or Mrs. Bates feel that the safety of the children would be upheld. That night after the meeting, Mrs. Bates contacted the local police station to help with the safety of the children getting to school. The police said that would help but could not pass the lines of the National Guard if the Guardsmen refused entrance. Mrs. Bates contacted local Ministers both African American and White with idea that the Ministers could walk with the students to try to keep violence from happening towards the children. Mrs. Bates also came up with the idea that all nine students should meet in one place so they all could go to school together. It was three or four in the morning when she finally reached all the students’ parents but one Elizabeth Echford, but Mrs. Bates decided to contact her before school started in the morning.
The fears of Elizabeth Echord mother Mrs. Echord of the experiences when she was a child was probably coming to the front of her mind when she sent Elizabeth off to school, but was not showing it in front of her daughter. Elizabeth was excited about her first day of school she could not sleep and even ironed her dress. Elizabeth new that there were protestors but assumed that the National Guard Soldiers would protect her. After the Echord family did a family prayer Elizabeth got on a city bus and headed towards Central High school unaware what she was about to experience. Mr. and Mrs. Bates had the rest of the children in a car heading towards the school to meet the local Ministers and police to help them get through the mob and into Central High School. As they were driving towards the school they heard over the radio about Elizabeth. According to Bates, D. (1987), the radio announced that a Negro girl was being attacked by the mob at Central High School. Everyone in the car was petrified for Elizabeth, Daisy stopped the car and L.C. Bates Daisy’s husband went to go look for her. When he arrived at the school, he saw that there was a mob around Elizabeth but she was getting safely onto a city bus and was leaving the school.
When Elizabeth arrived at Central High School she did not know were the other students were at, she assumed that they were at the main entrance of the school so she walked that way.

Elizabeth felt like she would be safer if she were to walk along the line of the National Guardsman standing guard around the school. When she arrived at the school entrance, she noticed White students going through the National Guard lines and heading into the school. During this whole time, the Mop was screaming racial things towards her. When Elizabeth approached the sidewalk entrance to the school the Soldier that she walked up to would not look at her or allow Elizabeth to enter. When Elizabeth tried to walk past the National Guard Soldier, he pointed his weapon with a bayonet on it towards her. Elizabeth with support of a couple of good Samaritans one a White women named Mrs. Grace Lorch a wife to a local professor help Elizabeth get on a city bus and leave the area. Unfortunately, the mob continued to yell ungodly things at Elizabeth and one women even spit in her face. The Arkansas National Guard denied the other children with the support of the local Ministers into the school. President Eisenhower learned of the denial of the students into the Little Rock High school so Eisenhower requested a meeting with Governor Faubus to talk about what was going on in Little Rock Arkansas. According to American, Story (n.d.), in the meeting, the President had with Governor Faubus the

President said the National Guard could stay and enforce order but the African Americans students need to be allowed into the school and Faubus agreed. When Faubus returned to Arkansas, he pulled the Army National Guard from Little Rock and gave no support to the local authority’s to help keep order.
The local police department of Little Rock Arkansas was contacted by Mrs.

Bates to escort the nine student’s safely to school the next day after the National Guard was pulled out from Central High school. The police department agreed, but would not escort the students from their homes to school. The police said they would meet the students at the school. The day of school, the children were rushed into a side entrance of the school and mob attacked some of the African American reporters that were there hitting, kicking them, and one even was hit by a brick on the side of the head. The police could not keep control of the mob and the nine students were taken out of the school. That night African Americans were attacked around Little Rock. According to Bates, D. (1987), two black women were beaten and two black men in their truck were taken out and beaten and their truck was totaled. The Mayor Woodrow Mann of Little Rock did not receive any response for help when requested to the Governor so he finally requested help from President Eisenhower. According to Arkansas History and Culture (October 22, 2014), President Eisenhower issued an order on sending U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne and federalizing the Army National Guard to Little Rock Arkansas to restore order. The U.S. Army 101st Airborne did not take long to restore order in and around Central School. There was an issue with a small group of angry male protestors but it was dispersed by the 101st. The Army contacted

Mrs. Bates to let her know that the 101st would be escorting the students from her house to school. At Mrs. Bates house all, nine students were escorted from her house to the school. The 101st had placed the students in a station wagon escorted by two-armed jeeps, one in the front the station wagon and one in the back and drove them to Central High school to start school.