Gladys Noel Bates (born March 26, 1920, McComb, Mississippi, died October 15, 2010, Denver, Colorado) was an African-American civil rights pioneer, and educator who filed a lawsuit, Gladys Noel Bates vs the State of Mississippi, in 1948 charging salary discrimination against black teachers and principals. Although her lawsuit was not successful, it brought enough attention to the issue of wage equality in education to begin to equalize salaries.