- Collection:
- Butler Center for Arkansas Studies Photographs Collection
- Title:
- Gravestone of Wiley Branton, Sr.
- Publisher:
- Little Rock, Ark. : Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
- Date of Original:
- 1988/2021
- Subject:
- Central High School (Little Rock, Ark.)--History
Little Rock Public Schools (Little Rock, Ark.)
African Americans--Education--Arkansas--Little Rock
African Americans--Civil rights--Arkansas--Little Rock - People:
- Branton, Wiley Austin, 1923-1988
- Location:
- United States, Arkansas, Pulaski County, Little Rock, 34.74648, -92.28959
- Medium:
- photographic prints
- Type:
- StillImage
- Format:
- image/jpeg
- Description:
- Gravestone of Wiley Branton, Sr. with a cross laying against it.
Verso: Wiley A. Branton was the lead counsel for the Little Rock Nine. Throughout the Central High crisis, Mr. Braton and his family became the targets of hate mail and threatening telephone calls. Because of his extremely fair complexion, many white people mistakenly thought him to be white; and consequently, a traitor to the white race. Mr. Bratone was very definitely a Negro. At one point during the year of 1958, wooden crosses, the calling card of the KKK and/or White Citizens Council, were placed on the front yard of Mr. Branton's home and also the family burial plot, both of which were located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Once set in place, the crosses were duly set ablaze by the people who were opposed to Mr. Branton's efforts. The photograph depicts the remains of the cross that was placed on the family burial plot at the Bellwood Cemetery. The headstone actually marks the burial plot of the Wiley family and the Branton family, hence "Wiley Branton", but the cross burners thought they were placing the cross on the future headstone of Mr. Branton.
This project was supported in part by a Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives project grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Council on Library and Information Resources. - Metadata URL:
- http://arstudies.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15728coll1/id/13217
- IIIF manifest:
- http://arstudies.contentdm.oclc.org/iiif/2/p15728coll1:13217/manifest.json
- Additional Rights Information:
- Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site believes this item is covered by our copyright, fair use, or public domain. If you claim copyright, contact the National Historic Site care of UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture at cahc@ualr.edu.
- Extent:
- 8 x 9 in.
- Original Collection:
- Central High Museum, Inc. papers (CHSC 314)
History of Segregation and Integration of Arkansas's Educational System - Contributing Institution:
- Butler Center for Arkansas Studies
- Rights:
-
Gravestone of Wiley Branton, Sr.
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