Russell Ackerman Peyton was born in New Jersey in 1903. He was raised by his maternal grandparents in Virginia. He got involved in a successful lawsuit against Shell Oil while working at a service station in San Francisco, California, which led to his getting a job with the law firm Shepard & Peyton. He then attended the University of Oklahoma in 1936, and earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts. He came to Portland, Oregon, to work for the Kaiser shipyards as manager of the testing department from 1943 to 1946. After the war, he decided to remain in Oregon. He got involved with the Urban League, which led to his being hired as an investigator for the Civil Rights Division of the Oregon State Bureau of Labor. He was also involved with the Joint Council for Social Welfare for many years and was named Social Worker of the Year in 1972. He later was an executive director of the Metropolitan Human Relations Commission, and an award named for him is awarded each year to human rights activists. After retirement, Peyton served on the boards of numerous humanitarian organizations. He died in 1996.