Wiley Branton (1923-1988)

Wiley Branton was born in 1923. His life was devoted to the law and Civil Rights. Though he is no longer living, he is remembered as a distinguished Civil Rights attorney. He was born in Arkansas and spent most of his young life there, first attending college at what is today the University of Arkansas, then the Law School in Arkansas. He sat as chief council in 1957 for the Little Rock Desegregation Case arguing in defense of the black students' rights to attend local schools. Branton himself was only the fourth black student to receive a law degree from the University of Arkansas.

Civil Rights Era

His legal career allowed him to make considerable progress in the cause of black voting rights. Branton became a part of the Southern Regional Council's Voter Education Project, based in Atlanta, in 1962 when he was selected for the post with zero opposition. As part of this team, Branton helped register more than 600,000 voters. This significant increase in black voters lead to the 1965 Voting Rights Act, rallying both voices and enthusiasm to champion black voting rights. Wiley died in 1988. Towards the end of his life, however, he held many other honorable positions including Executive Secretary to President Johnson on the Council on Equal Opportunity head of the Voter Registration Fund, and Dean of the Law School at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Bibliography

Information for this biography was gathered from the following sources:

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