The Daisy Bates House in Little Rock is designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
On November 5, 1997, the Daisy Bates House, located at 1207 West 28th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas, was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior, one of the highest forms of federal recognition for a historic site in the United States.
The modest ranch-style home served as far more than a private residence during the 1957–58 Little Rock school integration crisis: it functioned as the operational command center for the Little Rock Nine's integration effort. It was here that Daisy and L.C. Bates coordinated daily transportation for the nine students, held strategy meetings with NAACP officials and legal counsel, and provided a safe gathering space for the students and their families amid an atmosphere of constant threats and harassment. The home itself was targeted by segregationists, including being fired upon and having crosses burned on its lawn.
The National Historic Landmark designation recognized the house's direct and irreplaceable connection to one of the most significant civil rights events of the twentieth century. It joined a select group of sites nationwide recognized not merely for architectural merit but for their exceptional historical significance to the nation's story.
The designation, coming just two years before Bates's death in 1999, ensured the preservation of a tangible physical link to the Little Rock Crisis for future generations of students, historians, and visitors.