Wiley A. Branton

[1] Branton rose to prominence after filing the suit against the Little Rock School Board which would eventually be heard before the Supreme Court.

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.

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.

By the end of World War II, Branton had earned the position of master sergeant in an Engineer Aviation Battalion.

The Little Rock suit filed by Branton, Cooper v. Aaron, was heard by the Supreme Court in 1958 and led to the desegregation of Central High School.

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.