Sally Brown Chronology
Early Life
Mother, Ina Hamilton Dowdy, born Fort Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Father, Brig. Gen. Martin Conrad Shallenberger, was stationed at Valdez, Alaska Army post.
- Sally born in Valdez, Alaska, April 14, 1911.
- Father assigned to Presidio, San Francisco.
- Aid to Gen. John J. Pershing
- Father reassigned to Fort Bliss, Texas
- Fought with Mexican Expeditionary Force against Pancho Villa at Mexican border.
- Had to tell Pershing that his wife and children had died in a house fire.
- Friend of George S. Patton
- World War I declared—Shallenberger, Pershing, and Patton assigned to Europe.
- Sally and her mother move in with A.C. Shallenberger, Sally’s grandfather, current Congressman and former governor of Nebraska.
- WWI ends in 1918.
- 1919: Sally, brother Martin, and mother travel across Atlantic aboard U.S.S. Zeppelin.
- Father named military attaché to Athens and Belgrade.
- First six months spent in Portugal and Madrid.
- Family moves to Belgrade.
- In 1921, family moves to Athens.
- Cross treacherous Babuna mountain in Army-issue vehicle.
- Sally befriends children of Prince Nicholas.
- Political turmoil compels Shallenberger to move family to Cathesia, a rural area outside of Athens.
- Father takes military leave, and family tours Paris, Venice, and Florence.
- Shallenberger assigned to Fort McPherson, Atlanta, in 1925.
- Under command of Gen. Douglas
- Sally and friends put on a children’ performance of Madame Butterfly, which she’d seen in Athens, and are written up in the newspaper.
- Under command of Gen. Douglas
- In 1928, Sally enrolls in Sweet Briar College.
- Sally visits friend from college (VanWinkle) in Louisville in 1931 and meets W.L. Lyons Brown, future husband, at Louisville Country Club.
- Father named military attaché to Austria and Hungary.
- Family moves to Vienna, and Sally spends summers there.
- Austria under threat from Hitler.
- Prime Minister Dolphus assassinated.
- Family moves to Vienna, and Sally spends summers there.
- Sally graduates from Sweet Briar in 1932.
- Earns Bachelor of Fine Arts with emphasis in painting.
- Sally visits Louisville frequently, staying with VanWinkle family and seeing W.L. Lyons Brown.
- In 1933, Lyons and brother George join family company, Brown-Forman Corporation.
- Lyons cables in 1935 that he will be visiting Vienna with his father and two uncles.
- Proposes to Sally.
- Lyons Brown and Sally Shallenberger married in 1935 at the British Embassy.
- Couple returns to Louisville to live at Lyons’ father’s house.
Louisville Life
- 1935-1944: Children Lee, Martin, and Owsley born.
- In 1945, daughter Ina is born and family moves to Ashbourne Estate.
- Lyons Brown becomes president of Brown-Forman Corporation.
- Sally joins Sweet Briar College Board of Directors.
- Serves from 1945 to 1965.
- In 1957, Sally organizes a group to purchase and repair Locust Grove, childhood home of George Rogers Clark.
- Locust Grove board member 1957-1970.
- Locust Grove becomes a National Historic Landmark, and in year 2000 becomes an accredited museum.
- Sally co-founds River Fields in 1959.
- In 1964, Actors Theatre of Louisville is founded.
- Sally is early contributor.
- Serves as board member for Louisville Ballet, Shakertown, Louisville Downtown Development Committee, Speed Art Museum, and Kentucky Opera.
National Conservation
- Sally is asked to join the Garden Club of America.
- Serves from 1966 to 2001, including stints as chair of Admissions, Conservation, and Legislation committees; vice president; and National Affairs Advisor.
- Continues work with numerous environmental organizations.
- Serves on board of Environmental Defense from 1967 to 1992.
- Joins Natural Resources Defense Council in 1971.
- Serves on President’s Council.
- Serves on boards at Woods Hole Research Center, World Wildlife Fund, National Wildlife Federation, et al.
- 1973: W.L. Lyons Brown dies at the age of 66.
- Sally serves as U.S. delegate to United Nations Conference on World Population in 1974.
- Serves as delegate to International Union for Conservation and Nature, 1974.
- Co-founder of Kentucky State Nature Conservancy, 1979.
- Leads to establishment of 500-acre Sally Brown Nature Preserve.
- Sally’s efforts alongside President Jimmy Carter lead to historic expansion of Alaska National Wildlife Refuge on Dec. 2, 1980.
- Sally joins Americans for Alaska.
- In 1984, Sally serves as delegate to United Nations Conference on World Population, Mexico City.
- Sally instrumental in founding the Conservation Fund, 1985.
- Sally’s funding creates chair at Woods Hole Research Center.
- Chair held by Kiliparti Ramakrishna, environmental lawyer, who subsequently goes on to draft the Conference Treaty on Climate Control, the precursor to the Kyoto Protocol.
- Sally sits on the Yale School of Forestry’s Leadership Council, the Transylvania University Bingham Advisory Board, and the Bellarmine Board of Directors.
- In early 1990s, Sally helps fund the Louisville Development Corporation’s search for a Waterfront Park design team.
- Contributes again during construction of park and then again upon completion, after it was decided to redesign the park entrance.
- Sculpture at entrance to park commissioned by Sally’s family.
- In 2003, Sally is awarded the Natural Resource Defense Council’s Force for Nature Award.
- Honored along with Harrison Ford.
- Continues to this day writing letters; making telephone calls; and visiting local, state, and national leaders to advocate for what she believes in.
