L. C. Bates  Lucius Christopher (L.C.) Bates (April 27, 1904 in Liberty, Mississippi – August 22, 1980 in Little Rock, Arkansas) 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. Lucious Christopher Bates was born April 27, 1904 in Liberty, Mississippi to Laura and Rev. Morris Bates, who 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. The family would later move to Indianola, Mississippi where Bates was enrolled into a black public school. Bates would finish high school at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, which was not uncommon at that time. After high school, Bates would study journalism at Alcorn A&M College in Mississippi and Wilberforce University in Ohio for a year before dropping out. Bates worked a series of newspaper jobs after dropping out of college. He later changed careers and worked as a traveling salesman, selling insurance and novelty advertising. Bates moved to Omaha, Nebraska where he would meet his first wife, Kassandra Crawford. The young couple would marry in 1924 then relocate to Memphis, Tennessee. They had one daughter together - Loretta Ann Bates Carter. By the time they had split in 1930, Bates had already met his second wife - Daisy Lee Gatson. Gatson was fifteen at the time of their meeting. They would reunite a few years later when she was 17 and begin dating. Bates and Gatson would marry March 4, 1942 in Fordyce, Arkansas. Afterwards, they moved to Little Rock. After moving to Little Rock, Bates retained a love for journalism. If he worked in a journalistic job, he would not have the freedom to fight political and socio-economic injustices. He reasoned, "If I owned the paper, I wouldn't lose my job." In 1941, Bates and his wife would use their savings to purchase the black operated "Twin City Press", later renamed "Arkansas State Press". The "State Press" advocated for civil rights and covered black involvement in sports, social events, politics and entertainment.