 Aurelia Browder was born on January 29, 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama, where she resided her whole life.She was the sole economic support of her six children after she was widowed.She had several different careers throughout her life including working as a seamstress, nurse midwife and teacher She was a strong, smart woman, one who Jo Ann Gibson Robinson described in her memoir as “well-read, highly intelligent, fearless.”

Browder completed high school in her thirties and eventually earned a bachelor's degree in science from Alabama State University.