ETHEL AMBROSE,
daughter of Ernest and Bess Pearson, passed away on December 16th, 2022.
Ethel Pearson Ambrose was born July 3, 1929, in Moravian Falls, N.C. She grew up in North Carolina and Berea, Ky., where she graduated from Berea College Foundation School in 1947. She attended Berea College in Berea, Ky., for two years.
In 1948, she married Frederick Arthur Ambrose of Berea, Ky. The year after their marriage, the Ambroses enrolled at the University of Arizona at Tucson, Ariz., where she majored in Inter-American Studies. She held the Arizona Woman’s Scholarship and did extensive field work in several Native American Reservations in Arizona and in the Four Corners area. The Ambroses lived for a year at Patagonia, Ariz., and at Delores, Colo., near the Hovenweep Ruins in Southeastern Utah.
Returning to Kentucky in 1959, she took a degree in History at the University at Lexington, Ky.
From 1960 to 1965, the Ambroses represented the Council of the Southern Council in Harlan County, Ky., where they worked in Community outreach. She established elementary school libraries in rural elementary schools.
In the mid 1960s, the Ambroses lived in Niger, West Africa, where he was Agricultural Education and Extension Advisor to the government of Niger under the Auspices of the Near East Foundation.
Following her time in Africa, She earned an MLS Degree from George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tenn.
She later worked as coordinator of Children’s Services at the Sacramento City-County Library and later at the Stockton-San Joaquin County Library. She was politically active as a Children’s Advocate in California. Active in both the California and American Library Association, she held numerous offices over a span of years. She served on several Newberry-Caldecott Committees and was a Founding Member of the ALA-Coretta Scott King Award.
Designated an Arkansas Uppity Woman for her work as a Community Activist, She is Past-President of the Coalition of Little Rock Neighborhoods, the Central High School Neighborhood Association, and the Little Rock Sister Cities Association.
Ethel was proceeded in death by her parents, Ernest and Bess Pearson; her devoted husband, Frederick Arthur Ambrose; one sister, Josie Pearson Zimmerman; one brother, Stokes Royal Pearson; and one infant brother, Joe Pearson.
Ethel is survived by many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and -nephews; relatives, and dear friends in Little Rock, Ark., and all over the world.
A memorial gathering will be held at Bullock Temple CME Church, 1015 S. Park St, Little Rock Ark., on Tuesday February 21st at 1 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Central High Neighborhood INC, 2015 W 16th St, Little Rock, Ark. 72202; Berea College, 101 Chestnut St., Berea, Ky. 40403; and The Ashley Bryan Center, P.O. Box 263, Islesford, Maine 04646.