Arkansas Activist: Brownie Ledbetter

Mary Brown Williams Ledbetter, commonly known as Brownie Ledbetter, was an activist who worked in Arkansas campaigns along with national and international ones. She helped grassroots organizations and was dedicated to fair education.

Ledbetter was born in 1932 in Little Rock. By 1950, she was orphaned and she and her 3 siblings were raised by relatives. After her graduation at Little Rock High School, she went to Agnes Scott college in Georgia, but left without her degree. At only 18, she married Calvin Reville Ledbetter, and they relocated to Germany. The rest of her life was spent in the U.S..

In 1958, Little Rock public high schools were closed in efforts to resist integration after Brown v. Board of Education.Calvin was stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army, and during this time, Brownie learned about the issue with the desegregation of her high school back in Little Rock. When the couple returned to Arkansas, Brownie immediately joined the Women’s Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools and volunteered to support the reopening of Little Rock Public Schools. Brownie Ledbetter saw firsthand how public systems were denying access to education. This began her activism career, as she fought for equal access to education and civil rights.

After the disbandment of the WEC, Brownie worked with the Panel of American Women. The panel was a nonpartisan convention that targeted religious and racial diversity. Within these forums, women discussed their own experiences, trying to find common ground with people of different backgrounds.  In 1981, the panel expanded and became the Arkansas Public Policy Panel. This updated panel organized and assisted grassroots groups, in which Ledbetter served as a director. She guided citizen lobbyists, whose work spread her influence far beyond their panel alone.

Ledbetter was a part of numerous organizations and causes. She founded the Arkansas Fairness Council in 1983, which was a group of grassroots organizations. She served as president and a lobbyist for fifteen years. She was a founding member of the Women’s Political Caucus, increasing women’s political participation. She was an organizing member of the Arkansas Coalition and Arkansas Career Resources Inc.. She was a state director of the Southern Coalition for Educational Equity, and was a legislative director for the State Federation of women, business, and civil rights. She was a co-founder of the Women’s Environment and Development Organization. Brownie Ledbetter dedicated extraordinary amounts of time fighting for what she knew was right. Instead of backing down, she fought against the discrimination pitted against her and her values. These don’t even begin to cover all of the organizations she was affiliated with. She worked with women and minorities from many countries, participated in UN meetings, was a consultant for campaigns, and an influence for getting legal forms of birth control.

Along with her grassroots efforts, she worked with fifteen plus political campaigns, and in 1967 she was campaign manager for her husband’s campaign for the Arkansas General Assembly.  In 1992, she received the American Civil Liberties Union Civil Libertarian of the Year. In 2005, she received the Mary Hatwood Futrell Award in 2005. She passed in 2010, but her legacy lives on today. The Women’s Foundation of Arkansas created the Brownie Ledbetter Civic Engagement Award to honor her. She is the inspiration for the Brownie Ledbetter Dragonslayer Award. Further preserving her influence, she has been inducted into the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame.

Brownie Ledbetter was dedicated to equality and was a catalyst for grassroots organizations. She is a marvelous example of someone who fought for education and equality. She gave her life to bettering society and putting in effort to make sure rights were received. Brownie Ledbetter is an excellent example of how one’s dedication and leadership can create lasting change.

Sources: 

Mary Brown "Brownie Williams Ledbetter Obituary

Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Author: Addison Hufford 

Instagram Handle: @addisonhufford