William Frank Norrell (August 29, 1896 – February 15, 1961) was a U.S. representative from Arkansas' former 6th congressional district."William Norrell Dies; 22 Years in House" The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., 109th year, number 47, February 16, 1961, page B-4. (obituary) Upon his death, he was succeeded in Congress by his widow, Catherine Dorris Norrell. He also served in the Arkansas Senate.
Early life and education Born on a farm in Milo in Ashley County in south Arkansas, Norrell attended the public schools, the University of Arkansas at Monticello, then known as Arkansas Agricultural and Mechanical College, the University of the Ozarks, then College of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law School.Pearson, Drew and Allen, Robert S. "The Washington Merry-Go-Round", The Lexington Leader, Lexington, Kentucky, volume 51, number 66, March 18, 1939, page 4.
Career During World War I, Norrell served in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps. In 1920, he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Monticello in Drew County, Arkansas.
From 1930 to 1938, Norrell served as member of the Arkansas State Senate. He was the Senate President from 1934 to 1938 under lieutenant governors William Lee Cazort and Robert L. Bailey.
Norrell was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-sixth and to the eleven succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1939, until his death in Washington, D.C. He was a signatory to the 1956 Southern Manifesto that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education.
Burial He is interred beside his wife at Oakland Cemetery in Monticello, Arkansas.
See also List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1950–1999)
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