Clara Arena Brawner (August 29, 1929 – October 4, 1991) was the only African-American woman physician in Memphis, Tennessee, in the mid-1950s.
[1] The daughter of a pediatric physician and a registered nurse, Brawner was born in Georgia and raised in Memphis and attended Manassas High School.
[3][4] Brawner had a younger sister named Alpha Brawner-Floyd, a world-renowned soprano opera singer.
Brawner was president and officer of the Bluff City Medical Society for 15 years, helping the organization to survive through the 1960s after the number of African-American physicians practicing in Memphis fell from 40 in 1930 to 12 in 1960.
Brawner was very involved in her local religious community and an active member of Gospel Temple Baptist Church where she served as a Sunday School and Bible class teacher, Trustee Board member, Superintendent of Junior Ushers and chair of the Ministerial Council.