Norrell, Catherine Dorris, 1901-1981

<p>Having worked alongside her husband, William Frank Norrell, as his legislative assistant for three decades, Catherine D. Norrell succeeded him as an Arkansas Representative in a special election after his death. Her experience as a congressional wife and aide helped to prepare her for new legislative responsibilities. But Norrell was confronted by an almost insuperable barrier to her re-election, as reapportionment carved up her southeastern Arkansas district between two powerful incumbents.</p>

<p>Catherine Dorris was born on March 30, 1901, in Camden, Arkansas. Her father, William Franklin Dorris, was an itinerant Baptist preacher, and he moved his wife, Rose Whitehead Dorris, and their family from congregation to congregation in Texas, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Catherine attended Ouachita Baptist College in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, training as an accomplished pianist and organist. Before her 1922 marriage to William Norrell, a World War I veteran and Monticello, Arkansas, lawyer, Catherine Dorris was a music teacher and director at the music department of Arkansas A & M College. The Norrells raised one daughter, Julia Jean, nicknamed Judy. After eight years in the Arkansas state senate, William Norrell was elected to the U.S. House in November 1938—the first of 12 consecutive terms representing a southeastern Arkansas district. He would eventually become the sixth-ranking Democrat on the powerful Appropriations Committee and chairman of its Legislative Appropriations Subcommittee. During her husband’s tenure in Little Rock and in the U.S. House, Catherine Norrell worked as his unpaid assistant, learning the details of the legislative process. She also served as president of the Congressional Wives Club and was a close friend of Hattie Wyatt Caraway, the Arkansas Senator and first woman elected to the U.S. Senate.</p>

<p>Reapportionment after the 1960 Census cost Arkansas two of its six House seats. William Norrell’s district was carved into two parts, the first being lumped into a northeastern district represented by Wilbur Daigh Mills, chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. The bulk of the Norrell’s old district, including his home county, was placed into the district represented by Democrat Oren Harris, a formidable, 20-year incumbent who chaired the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Norrell, who claimed Harris was behind the redistricting effort, vowed to fight him in the 1962 Democratic primary for a seat in a new district which spanned the southern half of the state. He never got that chance. On February 15, 1961, William Norrell died a few days after being discovered unconscious in his office; he had suffered a stroke. Arkansas Democratic leaders soon approached Catherine Norrell to fill the vacancy in a special election. Like many widows running for their husbands’ seats, Norrell campaigned on the promise of continuing her husband’s policies. Her daughter Judy, on leave from George Washington University Law School, managed the campaign. Norrell’s slogan was direct: “Keep Your Congressional Power Up! Elect Mrs. W. F. Norrell … the Only Candidate Prepared to Step In.” She faced four Democratic men in the campaign, including the top contender, John Harris Jones, a young attorney from Pine Bluff. Jones attacked Norrell for attempting to claim two congressional salaries, one as a widow receiving survivor’s compensation and one as a Member were she to be elected. But his efforts to undercut wide sympathy for Norrell were to no avail. In the special election held on April 18, 1961, Norrell prevailed with 43 percent of the vote to 25 percent for Jones and 23 percent for M. C. Lewis.</p>

<p>Catherine Dorris Norrell (March 30, 1901 – August 26, 1981) was the third woman in Arkansas history to gain a seat in the United States House of Representatives.</p>

<p>Catherine Dorris was born in Camden, Ouachita County, Arkansas to Baptist preacher Franklin Dorris, and Rose Whitehead Dorris in 1901. The family moved to various congregations in Tennessee, Texas, and Arkansas before they settled and Catherine Dorris finished high school in Monticello, Arkansas. She attended Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, and the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. While there, she became a skilled organist and pianist and went on to serve as director of the music department at Arkansas A & M College (now Arkansas State University) and teach in the Arkansas public school system.</p>

<p>Norrell was married to William Frank Norrell from 1922 until his death in 1961. Together they had one child, Julia Jean "Judy" Norrell. Catherine Norrell worked alongside her husband for three decades and succeeded him in the United States House of Representatives following his death. While on leave from George Washington University Law School, Judy Norell managed her mother's 1961 campaign.</p>