Curriculum Vitae of Wiley A. Branton searchable text

Curriculum vitae                                                                               10/10/62

Wiley A. Branton 

Present Position:                      Director, VOTER EDUCATION PROJECT of the Added 11/19/63:                     Southern Regional Council, Atlanta 

Executive Director Council      The Voter Education Project is a special program

for United Civil Rights             of the Southern Regional Council, engaged in

Leadership and Committee      research relating to the causes of low

for Welfare, Education             registration of voters in eleven southern states.

and Legal Defense, Inc.            This is a cooperative effort, with participation by the Congress of Racial Equality, NAACP, National Urban League, Sothern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, as well as many local organizations.

Date of Birth:                           December 13, 1923

Place of Birth:                          Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Education:                               Public Schools, Pine Bluff, Arkansas

                                                AM and N College, Pine Bluff, Arkansas

                                                School of Law, University of Arkansas,

                                                          Fayetteville, Arkansas

Family Status:                         Married to the former Lucille McKee of Memphis, Tennessee; six children

Armed Forces Experience:        3-1/2 Years, U.S. Army, World War II –

                                                Far Eastern Theater – Honorable Discharge

Religion:                                  Baptist

Organizations:                         32^nd Degree Mason (Prince Hall)

                                                Rahman Temple of Shrine

                                                Omega Psi Phi Fraternity

                                                Sigma Pi Phi Boule

                                                NAACP

Legal Qualifications:                Admission to practice before the following courts:

                                                          Supreme Court of Arkansas

                                                          U. S. District Courts of Arkansas

                                                          U.S. Court of Appeals (8^th Circuit)

                                                          Supreme Court of the United States

                                                          Supreme Court of Georgia

                                                          U.S. Dist. Court for the N’thn Dist. Of Ga.

                                                          Georgia Court of Appeals

                                                          Superior Court, Fulton County, Georgia                                   

Bar Associations:                     Wonder State Bar Association (Arkansas)

                                                Gate City Bar Association (Atlanta)

                                                National Bar Association

                                                American Bar Association

                                                American Judicature Society

Legal Experience:                     Engaged in private practice in Pine Bluff,

(Also see attached)                   Arkansas, from 1952 to 1962.

Outstanding Awards:               C. Francis Stratford Award by National Bar Association, Chicago, 1958

                                                Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award,

                                                Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Cleveland, Ohio, 1958

                                                Democratic Minority Conference Award,

                                                Los Angeles, California, 1959

                                                Arkansas Conference NAACP Award, for outstanding legal work in the field of civil rights, 1958

                                                Cited by Life Magazine as one of the 100 most important young men and women in the U.S., September 14, 1962

*The Committee for Welfare, Education and Legal Defense (WEID) is primarily a program to assist in the financial support of three tax exempt agencies, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., National Urban League, and the Educational Fund of the National Council of Negro Women.

The Council for United Civil Rights Leadership includes the above three organizations as well as the Congress of Racial Equality, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.  Its principal function is to coordinate and help focus the efforts of the participating organizations, while each retains full autonomy and continues to pursue their own objectives.