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Frances DeBra Brown
Frances DeBra Brown

She was born in Danville, Indiana on August 20, 1919 to parents Rupert Samuel and Iva Mae DeBra. Five years later, her sister Emma DeBra Walton was born. Frances began her art studies under the direction of Mrs. Stella Hendricks while in grammar school at Danville, Indiana. After graduation from High School, she attended the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis, Indiana. After completing her studies, she attended the Chicago Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois. While living in Chicago, she worked as a commercial artist. "Frances DeBra Brown, a teacher, artist, and art conservator, lives in Yazoo City, Mississippi. A prize-winning miniature artist, her work was accepted by the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors, and Gravers for its art show at The Mall Galleries, The Mall, London, England. They have also hung in the annual exhibits of the Miniature Painters, Sculptors, and Gravers Society of Washington, D. C., and The National Miniature Art Exhibition of the Miniature Art Society of New Jersey. At the New Jersey Exhibition her entry won The Margaret Tiffany Award (First Place) in floral idiom.

She is a member of the American Institute for Conservation and the International Institute for Conservation and has cleaned and repaired hundreds of paintings and has done conservation work for the Mississippi State Capitol, the Hall of Governors, and the Old Capitol of Mississippi Museum."

More than 150,000 women served in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in World War II. Although the majority of WACs were assigned to duties in the United States, several thousand received overseas assignments. In 2008 her memoir, An Army in Skirts, was published by the Indiana Historical Society Press. The book details her experiences during her time as a WAC during World War II. "This was a completely different section in the army. We were very isolated, special." She served in the Women's Army Corp during World War II as a draftsman serving in various locations in the United States. She was transferred to London, England and was assigned to Section G-3 Plans and Training and worked on classified information including the invasion plans for D-Day. She was transferred to Paris, France two weeks after the city was liberated from the Germans where she met her future husband, the love of her life, Halton Brown. In the interview with The Yazoo Herald Brown explains the name of the book. "We were raised as ladies, Henece the name of my book, An Army in Skirts."

After the release of her book she was featured in the Veteran's History Project.