Oral history with Gladys Noel Bates

              Oral history with Gladys Noel Bates
F341.5 . M57 vol. 689
Funding for this project provided by The Mississippi State Legislature, The Mississippi Humanities Council, The Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage at the University of Southern Mississippi.
This transcription of an oral history by the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage of The University of Southern Mississippi may not be reproduced or published in any form except that quotation of short excerpts of unrestricted transcripts and the associated tape recordings is permissible providing written consent is obtained from the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. When literary rights have been retained by the interviewee, written permission to use the material must be obtained from both the interviewee and the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. Please call ( 601) 266- 4574 for more information.
Biography
Gladys Noel Bates is the daughter of the late Andrew J. Noel and Susie Davis Noel. She was married to the late Dr. John M. Bates for fifty- six years. She is the mother of Kathryn Bates Gavin and John Milton Bates Jr. and is the grandmother of five and the great- grandmother of three.
A native of Mississippi, Mrs. Bates received her A. B. degree from Tougaloo College and the Master of Arts degree from West Virginia University, with further study at the University of Colorado and the University of Denver. She has been an active supporter of Tougaloo College since her graduation, having served on the Tougaloo College Board of Trustees and as president of the Tougaloo National Alumni Association. She currently serves as president of the Denver Mile High Alumni Chapter.
She has been a resident of Denver, Colorado, for the past thirty- three years. In her professional experience as teacher and as an administrative assistant principal, she developed programs for increased parental involvement in the schools and for appreciation of diversity. She was a co- write of an African American history syllabus, which continues in use in the Denver Public Schools. She provided leadership in the establishment of Human Rights Commissions in the local and state education associations. In recognition of these activities, the Colorado Education Association has named its most prestigious annual award, the " Gladys and John Bates Award." The National Education Association presented its H. Council Trenholm Human Relations Award to her in 1975. The Black Educators United Presented its Achievement Award in 1988. Tougaloo students named their study club the Gladys Noel Bates Research Study Club.
Mrs. Bates is a lifelong member of the National Education Association. During her career as a teacher she has served in numerous state and local teacher organizations. The drafted the Colorado Education Association's resolution creating its CEA Human Relations Commission. She organized People to People Committee at Denver's Place Junior High School to help facilitate the desegregation process. She has worked as an educator in the Jackson, Miss., public schools, as assistant executive secretary- editor for the Mississippi Teachers Association, as a science teacher at Baker Junior High School in Denver, as dent of girl at Gove Junior High School in Denver, and as administrative assistant principal at Place Junior High School in Denver. She retired from education in August of 1979. mus- coh. batesg. doc Page 1 of 37