Wiley Austin Branton (1923-1988) was a prominent civil rights lawyer and activist from

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Branton rose to prominence after filing the suit against the

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

School Board which would eventually be heard before the Supreme Court. After the trial, Branton moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he acted as the executive director of the Voter Education Project. He then spent time working for the government as the executive director of for the President's Council on Equal Opportunity and as a lawyer for the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

. He also served as the Dean of

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...

for five years.

Early life

Branton was born December 13, 1923, in

Pine Bluff, Arkansas Pine Bluff is the eleventh-largest city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combin ...

. His mother, Pauline, was a teacher and his father, Leo, operated a taxi business. Despite growing up with certain material comforts, Branton was still required to attend segregated primary and secondary schools before enrolling in Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical, and Normal College. Branton managed his father's company during his time in school. In 1943, his education was temporarily paused when he was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. By the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Branton had earned the position of master sergeant in an Engineer Aviation Battalion. His time in the military was critical to his developing understanding of injustice in the world. After returning home, Branton inherited his father's business and resumed his studies. He graduated with a degree in business administration in 1950. That same year, Branton became the fifth black student to be admitted to the

University of Arkansas School of Law The University of Arkansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a state university. It has around 445 students enrolled in its Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Law (LL.M) programs and is home to ...

. Branton had helped with integrationist efforts at the School of Law by influencing

Silas Hunt Silas Herbert Hunt (March 1, 1922 – April 22, 1949) was a U.S. veteran of World War II who became the first African American student to enroll in a white Southern university since the Reconstruction era. He enrolled in the University of Arkansas ...

to become the first black student to enroll at the university in protest after Governor Ben Laney began to campaign for a separate, segregated graduate school for black students. Upon graduating in 1953, he became the third black student to earn his law degree at the university. Branton would go on to open his own law office in Pine Bluff which would be in operation from 1953 to 1962. In his personal affairs, Branton married Lucille McKee in 1948 and the couple had six children during their union.

Civil rights and legal career

Branton had joined his local branch of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

shortly after his return home from war. His first effort in partnership with the group would be a voter registration campaign. The goal of the campaign was to teach black Americans how to properly mark their ballots. His activism led to an arrest and conviction for violating Arkansas election laws. He was fined $300 which the local black community paid off as a sign of solidarity and support. As a lawyer, Branton was able to partner with the organization to bring cases against those who violated the rights of black southerners. In 1956, Branton alongside NAACP director

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

filed a suit against the Little Rock, Arkansas, school board due to the school's refusal to desegregate despite the Supreme Court's

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

decision. The Little Rock suit filed by Branton,

Cooper v. Aaron ''Cooper v. Aaron'', 358 U.S. 1 (1958), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, which denied the school board of Little Rock, Arkansas, the right to delay racial desegregation for 30 months. On September 12, 1958, th ...

, was heard by the Supreme Court in 1958 and led to the desegregation of Central High School. Branton and his family received many threats and had crosses burned on their lawn while the case was being heard. He later held the position of the executive director of the Southern Regional Council's voter education project in Atlanta. In 1965 Brandon relocated to Washington DC where he worked as the executive secretary on the Council on Equal Opportunity, an initiative of the Johnson administration.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Branton, Wiley A. 1923 births 1988 deaths American civil rights activists People from Pine Bluff, Arkansas University of Arkansas people Howard University faculty

Early life

Civil rights and legal career

See also

References