Norrell, Catherine Dorris, 1901-1981

Catherine Dorris Norrell (March 30, 1901 – August 26, 1981) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the third woman in Arkansas history to serve in the United States House of Representatives.

Born in Camden, Arkansas, she grew up in Texas, Tennessee, and Arkansas before attending 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. After her husband's election to the Arkansas state senate, Catherine Norrell worked as his unpaid assistant, learning the details of the legislative process. She continued in this role after her husband's election to the U.S. House, also serving as president of the Congressional Wives Club.

After her husband's death in February 1961, Arkansas Democratic leaders 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. In the special election held on April 18, 1961, Norrell prevailed with 43 percent of the vote, taking the oath of office one week later. Once in office, Catherine Norrell concentrated her legislative efforts on the promotion of economic prosperity in her district. She was especially interested in protecting the area’s clay, textile, and lumber industries through tariffs and other government controls. Norrell also used her new prominence to acknowledge the contributions women had made to American political life, sponsoring a joint resolution calling for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, and also supported the Kennedy administration’s Cold War policies. Owing to the reapportionment of Arkansas' congressional districts after the 1960 census, Norrell elected not to run for re-election in 1962.

Shortly after leaving Congress, President Kennedy named Norrell as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, a post she held from 1963 to 1965. When President Lyndon B. Johnson won election to a full term, he appointed Norrell the director of the State Department’s reception center in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she served from 1965 to 1969. Norrell stayed in Hawaii for most of her retirement, employed as a church musician, before returning to her hometown of Monticello, Arkansas. She died in Warren, Arkansas.