March 30, 1901

Catherine Norrell was born in Camden (Ouachita County). Norrell was the wife of Congressman William Frank Norrell and succeeded him in Congress, becoming the third woman in Arkansas history to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Following her time in the House of Representatives, President John F. Kennedy appointed her as deputy assistant secretary of state, and she served from 1963 to 1965, at which time President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed her as director of the U.S. Department of State Reception Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. She remained in this position from June 1, 1965, to January 5, 1969. She died in Warren (Bradley County) on August 26, 1981.