News Release

Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site to Host Performance on the Life and Leadership of Daisy Gatson Bates

Phyllis Yvonne Stickney

photo courtesy: Phyllis Yvonne Stickney

News Release Date: August 14, 2026 LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site will present “Something in the Soil,” a free documentary-style, one-woman performance about the life and work of civil rights icon Daisy Gatson Bates, featuring actress Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, on Wednesday, August 26, at 6 p.m. at First Missionary Baptist Church.

The performance explores the events that shaped the life of Daisy Gatson Bates, from her childhood to her experience as an important figure in the Little Rock Central High School desegregation crisis and her later life as a journalist, publisher, organizer, and civil-rights leader. Through narration, period-inspired props, and historical language, the program follows Bates across three significant settings: the newsroom of the Arkansas State Press, the Bates home on West 28th Street in Little Rock, and the threshold of Little Rock Central High School.

Phyllis Yvonne Stickney is a Little Rock-born actress, comedian, poet, playwright, producer, and motivational speaker whose body of work spans theater, television, and film. Widely recognized for her originality and stage presence, she has built a career grounded in authenticity, storytelling, Black cultural expression, and performance that bridges entertainment, history, and social meaning.

The performance will take place at First Missionary Baptist Church, Little Rock’s oldest African American congregation and a site with its own connection to the city’s civil rights history, including a visit by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963.

Presented as part of the commemoration of America’s 250^th, the program will highlight Bates’s connection to the enduring themes of freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The event provides an opportunity for audiences to explore the history of the Little Rock Nine and Daisy Bates while reflecting on how the struggle for equal rights continues to shape the meaning of American democracy.