Charlesey Whitehead Brown (1926-) was born in Winter Haven, Florida, to Charles Henson Whitehead (1905-1989) and Mary Watson Whitehead (1906-1999). She attended the University of Georgia and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in home economics in 1947; in 1950 she received her postgraduate degree in education from Emory University. Brown worked as an elementary school teacher at the Margaret Mitchell School and served on the Atlanta Board of Education from 1948-1981. After 1988, she worked as the concert and artist director at the Piano Gallery of Atlanta. Brown married Morris Edward Sumner in 1951; five years later the couple divorced. In 1956 she married Gene Bowen Brown. Brown was a member of organizations such as the Business and Professional Women Association, Pro-Mozart Society, Atlanta Steinway, Delta Kappa Gamma, and the High Museum of Art.