Senator Irma Hunter Brown

Trailblazing Legislative Leader | Class of 2019

Inductee Senator Irma Hunter Brown served 24 years in the Arkansas Legislature as the first African-American woman to have been elected to both the Arkansas House of Representatives and to the Arkansas Senate. Her work in the legislature is expansive and impressive, in that she championed many causes that have impacted the community, the city and the state. Senator Brown chaired several committees and received countless awards and recognitions for her tireless work. By trade, she is an educator; by nature, she is a change-agent. She currently serves as president of the Friends of Haven of Rest Cemetery, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the condition and appearance of the cemetery, which is a historically and predominantly black development and the final resting place of several historic African-American Arkansans.

Senator Brown is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; a life member of the Little Rock Chapter of The Links, Inc.; and a member of Union African Methodist Episcopal Church. She has been the wife of Dr. Roosevelt Brown for the past 56 years; they live in Little Rock.