Brownie Williams Ledbetter, one of Arkansas' best-known political activists, was born April 28, 1932 in Little Rock, Arkansas, to William H. Williams, a businessman and dairy farmer, and Helon Brown Williams. She graduated from Central High School and attended Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia. In 1953, she married Cal Ledbetter, Jr., an attorney and later political science professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. They had three children: Grainger, Jeffery (deceased) and Snow. Brownie Ledbetter was a member of the Women's Emergency Committee (WEC), formed in 1958 after the Governor Orval Faubus closed the Little Rock Public Schools in an attempt to resist integration. The WEC worked to have the schools re-opened and to elect progressive candidates to the Little Rock School Board. She was a founding member of the Panel of American Women in Arkansas, in 1963. The Panel was composed of women of different ethnic and religious backgrounds who spoke to school and civic groups about their experiences, in the hope of promoting understanding and tolerance. The Panel of American Women evolved into the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, a lobbying group. Ledbetter served as its executive director for several years. Ledbetter founded the Arkansas Fairness Council, a coalition of grassroots citizens' groups, in 1983, and served as president of the Council. She has been involved in many other organizations, including Arkansas Career Resources, the Southern Coalition for Educational Equity, and the Women's Environment and Development Organization. Ledbetter also has served as an organizer and political consultant in campaigns from school board elections to the Presidential race. She was the campaign manager for her husband's successful bid for the Arkansas State Legislature. She lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.
From the description of Brownie Ledbetter papers 1897-1999. (Central Arkansas Library System). WorldCat record id: 56372446
