Bernice Brown McCullar was born in Richland, Georgia on March 9, 1905. She had two children Mrs. Eleanor Jennings and Mr. C.B. McCullar, Jr. (Sonny). McCullar graduated with a diploma from Georgia State College for Women in 1924. In 1923 and 1924, she did her practice teaching at GSCW and she continued her teaching experience by working at a night school in Washington, DC in 1925. She finished her bachelors degree from GCSW in 1930. In 1936, she taught summer school at Mercer University. In the same year, McCullar and her husband started a law practice together, McCullar and McCullar. From 1937 to 1938, she was an instructor of English and History at Peabody School.
After the death of her husband in 1942, McCullar became an associate professor at GSCW. From 1943 to 1946, she was an associate professor of English and Journalism, Director of Public Relations, Speaker's Service, and Editor of the GSCW Alumnae Journal. During this time, McCullar was also the editor of the Milledgeville Times. In 1944, she received an MA from Mercer University. From 1949 to 1950, she did doctoral work at Columbia University. In 1951, McCullar became the Information Director for the Georgia State Department of Education, a position she held until her retirement in 1966. In the 1960s, McCullar became a freelance writer for the Atlanta Journal with columns entitled "This Is Your Georgia" and "Georgia Notebook" and series entitled, "How to Make Better Grades in School," "I Wander and I Wonder," and "Tales Out of School." McCullar had additional articles published in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution Sunday Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, McCalls, Coronet, Farm Journal, and New York Times Magazine. She also moderated a weekly television show entitled "The Georgia School Story."
McCullar co-authored a book with Inez Wallace called Building Your Home Life. She further published two teaching help books, How You Can Become an Exciting Teacher and How to Study and Why? Her most notable work, This is Your Georgia, was published in 1967. It became the book used by students all across Georgia for several subsequent decades. After her retirement from education, McCullar gave tours and lectures on the Georgia Capitol Building starting in 1972. She wrote a guidebook to accompany her experience called Georgia and its Gold-Domed Capitol. McCullar died on May 31, 1975 in Decatur, Georgia. Her final publication, Venturing Into Sundown, a guidebook for productive living in retirement, was published posthumously.
In her lifetime, McCullar received many awards and recognitions. In 1961, she received The Quill Award sponsored by Sigma Delta for outstanding journalism and the Chi Omega Award for Outstanding Service to Education. In 1965, she was named Woman of the Year in Education by the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs, and she also recieved the Collins Silver Trophy from the Future Teachers of America for Excellence in Educational Journalism. Her other awards include the Theta Sigma Award to an Outstanding Member, WSB's "Great Georgian" Award, and the Top Headline Maker for WSB, 1966.
She was recognized on March 9, 1974 with "Bernice Brown McCullar Day," proclaimed by Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter. In 1975, the Bernice Brown McCullar Scholarship was established by Georgia College. She was also recognized posthumously with the Delbert Clark Award for long and distinguished service in the field of Adult Education in June 1975. There was a dogwood tree planted at the State Capitol in her honor under a proclamation by Georgia Governor George Busbee. McCullar held memberships in numerous clubs and organizations. She was a charter member of the Atlanta Press Club, President of the Georgia Club at Columbia University and of her class at GSCW, a Trustee for Mercer University, and held a Certificate for Life from American Vocational Association.