Grace Christine (Kamp) Bates, was born April 26, 1917, in Amsterdam, Montana, to Holland-born parents, Elizabeth (Betsy) deRuig and John T. Kamp. She was born in the connecting apartment of her father's blacksmith shop and lived most of her life in a house directly across the street. On April 16, 1939 she married Avery V. Bates. She was an active member of the Democratic Party and served in several capacities, including a delegate to the Montana Constitutional Convention in 1971-72. Bates also took a keen interest in history, serving on the board of directors for the Gallatin County Historical Society and was instrumental in gaining the organization the old county jail to use as a museum. She wrote and published several historical works, including
The Grace Kamp Bates papers consist of positive photocopies of material she created or collected dealing with the history of the Amsterdam or Holland Settlement area of Gallatin County, Montana. Additional material includes: a biographical essay Bates wrote about her father, John T. Kamp, an Amsterdam, Montana blacksmith; data on other blacksmiths in Manhattan, Montana; an autobiographical essay by Avery V. Bates edited by Grace; Bates family genealogy notes.
This collection is open for research.
Positive photocopies of research material created or collected by Grace Bates of Manhattan, Montana were donated by her to Montana State University on August 16, 1977. Bates added to her intitial donation in the following years, and these materials were assigned collection numbers 2256 and 2257 before being incorporated with the present collection.
This collection was processed 2017 July 27