It is topped by a hip roof with broad eaves, which also shelters a carport on the north and west side of the house.

The NAACP filed suit in 1956 because the plan did not specify a detailed implementation timetable, bringing Mrs. Bates wide local notice.

[3] The date for the students' enrollment at the school was September 4 and the days leading up to it were attended by an increase in racial tension and legal actions intended to delay the integration.

On September 2, Governor Orval Faubus called out the Arkansas National Guard, intending to use it to prevent the students from enrolling.

[3] This action garnered worldwide press attention, and the Bates house became the focus of reporters seeking the "black perspective" on the events.

One student Elizabeth Eckford, whose image in the crowd was particularly notable, spent the night at the Bates house, for which security had been arranged.

[3] In response to this action and ongoing threats of violence, President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally federalized the Arkansas National Guard, and sent a detachment of the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock to enforce the integration orders.

On the morning of September 25, the students again assembled at the Bates house, and were escorted to the school by members of the 101st Airborne and formally enrolled.