Douglas Arant

William Douglas Arant (May 19, 1897 – October 1987)^[1] was a Birmingham, Alabama attorney.

Early life

He was born on a small farm in

Between 1933 and 1945, Arant served as either counsel to, or a member of, a number of agencies. He became special assistant to the United States Attorney General and chief counsel for the Petroleum Administration Board, National Recovery Administration, Washington, D.C. in 1933. The next year 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. Arant was also a member of the Board of Appeals, District Two, Alabama Selective Service System from 1940 to 1945.

Although a Democrat and a strong Roosevelt supporter, at the urging of Grenville Clark, Arant accepted the position of Chairman of the National Committee for Independent Courts in 1937. The Committee was composed exclusively of Democrats who were steadfast supporters of President Roosevelt and the New Deal, but opposed to Roosevelt's legislative efforts to pack the existing nine member United States Supreme Court with additional justices of his own political philosophy.

In 1953, at the request of the United States Attorney General, Mr. Arant agreed to serve as a member of the National Committee To Study Antitrust Laws. The Committee issued its report on interpretation and application of the antitrust statutes (with recommendations for changes) in 1955.

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 Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Phi and the Order of the Coif.

During his tenure as president of the Alabama State Bar, Arant urged the formation of a Junior Bar Association as a means of bringing together younger lawyers from all over the state to focus on professional issues of significant interest to them. The Alabama State Junior Bar, now the Young Lawyers Section of the Alabama State Bar, became a reality in 1937. Arant regularly attended meetings of the Junior Bar and came to know many of the young lawyers throughout the state. He helped organize of the Legal Aid Society of Birmingham, which he served as president. He was also an active, longtime member of St. Mary's on the Highlands Episcopal Church and the Democratic Party.

In the early 1950s, he sponsored the first African-American attorney for membership in the Birmingham Bar Association –

He was appointed to the US Postal Commission by Richard Nixon.

Personal life

He was married to Letitia Tyler McNeel on December 31, 1929 and they had three daughters: Adele Goodwyn (Mrs. Richard J. Stockham, Jr.), Letitia Christian and Frances Fairlie (Mrs. David R Maginnes). His grandchildren include Richard J. Stockham, III (married to Connie Ray), Douglas Arant Stockham (married to Angela Browder), Adele Stockham Culp (Mrs. Douglass Culp) & David Tyler Maginnes.

References