 | WILLIAM DOUGLAS ARANT |
The following biographical sketch was compiled at the time of induction into the Academy in 1978.
William Douglas Arant, a well-known Birmingham attorney, was born May 19, 1897 in
Waverly, Lee County, son of William Jackson and Emma (Baker) Arant. His early education
was received in Alabama. After enlisting as a private in the United States Army, June 1918, he
was assigned to the Field Artillery. He attended Officers Candidate Training School at Camp
Taylor, Kentucky, and was commissioned second lieutenant in 1919.
He was graduated from the University of Virginia with bachelor of science and master of science
degrees on 1920 and received his law degree from Yale University magna cum laude in 1923.
He was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal, and was instructor of political science during the
summer terms. He was admitted to the Alabama Bar in 1923 and in 1927 joined the firm of
Tilman, Bradley and Baldwin, which has become Bradley, Arant, Rose and White.
Mr. Arant became special assistant to the United States Attorney General and chief counsel for
the Petroleum Administation Board, National Recovery Administration, Washington, D.C. in
1933. In 1934, he served as chairman of the Regional Labor Board, Sixth District, National
Recovery Administration, and in 1942 was the public member for the Fourth Regional Labor
Board in Atlanta. Mr. Arant was also a member of the Board of Appeals, District Two, Alabama
Selective Service System from 1940 to 1945.
His professional interest included memberships in the American Bar Association, and its
Committee on Bill of Rights of which he was chairman the term 1941-1943; Alabama State Bar
Association of which he was president in 1936 and a member of the Board of commissioners
from 1931 to 1940; he was also a member of the Birmingham Bar Association, the American Law
Institute, and a member of the Bar Association, City of New York. He was elected to
membership in Phi Beta Kappa, Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Phi and the Order of the Coif.
Mr. Arant held office as president of the Birmingham Civic Symphony Association and
president of the Birmingham Civic Opera Association. He was a member of the
Distribution Committee of Greater Birmingham, foundation trustee of the Brook Hill School, the
Eye Foundation, and member of the Board of Directors for Norton Center and Birmingham
Southern College. He was a democrat and an Episcopalian.
He was married to the former Letitia Tyler McNeal and they have three children: Adele (Mrs.
Richard J. Stockman, Jr.), Letitia Christian and Frances Fairlie. Mr. Arant is now deceased.
Updated: March 15, 2007