Attorney Wiley Branton played an integral role in the desegregation of Little Rock. By growing up in segregated Pine Bluff, Branton could relate first hand to the injustice spread throughout the nation as a result of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision.
Branton was an Army veteran of World War II. After the war he spent time teaching African Americans how to mark an election ballot. These efforts resulted in his conviction of a misdemeanor for teaching the mechanics of voting. Branton came to the conclusion that prejudice and hate rob every community of the best contributions from all its citizens.
Through a vision to make a difference in his community Branton became one of the first African American law students enrolled at the University of Arkansas School Of Law. Branton’s work paved the way for the Little Rock Nine and many African American students throughout the nation.
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision to begin school integration, Branton served as the lead attorney in Little Rock for the Aaron v. Cooper case. This case ultimately aided Little Rock in school desegregation that resulted in the 1957 integration of Little Rock Central High School. The Aaron v. Cooper case was filed by Branton in 1956 after thirty-three local African American students were denied enrollment into white schools. Branton’s work in Little Rock captured the attention of Roy Wilkins, the executive director of the NAACP, and Thurgood Marshall.
He devoted the rest of his life to fighting discrimination, taking a number of jobs in which his efforts improved access to civil rights for thousands of people. Such jobs included becoming a partner in the Sidley & Austin law firm in Washington D.C , and also the Dean of Howard University’s School of Law in 1977. In a 2001 interview, Branton said, “I am optimistic about the future and the basic good in mankind. Peace to all.”
There When We Needed Him is one of the featured titles in the Central High School Museum Shop which tells the humble story of Wiley Branton, a man focused on advancing human rights with a warrior approach towards seeking justice for everyone. The Central High School Museum Shop is in the new Visitor Center which opened in September 2007. The new Visitor Center features interactive exhibits with video footage available on touch screen computers, telephones to listen to oral histories, and informative exhibit panels on historical U.S. events that led up to the Little Rock Crisis, the Crisis itself, and more recent civil rights events occurring in the U.S.
