Last month, more than 75 family members, friends and colleagues gathered to celebrate the legacy and 35-year career of Angela Bates. The gathering, on the Bates Family Farm, located one mile north of Nicodemus, was an appropriate place for the fourth-generation member of the Bates family and for the visionary who recognized Kansas’ only remaining historic Black town was worth saving.
Bates founded the Nicodemus Historical Society in 1986 and her tireless efforts ensured preservation of the small city’s history and safeguarding for future generations.
As president and executive director of the Nicodemus Historical Society, she spearheaded efforts to secure Nicodemus as a National Historic Site. She helped secure federal funding for historic preservation of five buildings in the city.
In addition, she secured Nicodemus as a National Historic Site and part of the National Park Service
The city’s preserved community center serves as the National Park Service Visitor Center and has hosted thousands of visitors since its designation in 1996. Visitors learn about the resilience of the Black homesteaders who settled the city.
Among Bates’ most prominent achievements was the creation of the Nicodemus Historical Society and Museum to collect, preserve, and interpret for the nation the rich history and epic stories of Nicodemus and its residents.
As part of that project, she collaborated with the Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas and created, through donations, the Nicodemus Historical Society’s collection of photos and archives.
As a prolific public speaker, Bates helped put Nicodemus on the map as a historic destination. Through organizations such as Kansas Humanities, she performs first-person characterizations of African-American women of the West as a way to educate, entertain and enlighten. She also co-created the Nicodemus Buffalo Soldier Association and performed with them throughout the nation.
For her work, she’s received a litany of awards and recognitions.
Dr. Ashley Adams, descendant and board president of the Nicodemus Historical Society, said, “Angela has made a deep impact, not only within the Nicodemus descendant community but across the nation, honoring the legacy of our ancestors and keeping their memory alive. The ancestors are smiling, and we will continue to build upon what she has created for future generations to come.”
In her retirement, she plans to republish her children’s books, finish writing her memoirs, and write a sequel to her recent Nicodemus documentary film. She says she will also, finally, pursue her personal lifelong passion as an artist and oil painter.
