First Black Indiana State Senate

Robert Brokenburr (16 Nov 1886 – 24 Mar 1974). The opportunity to do some free legal work for Madame CJ Walker ended with Brokenburr becoming General Manager of her company, developing international markets, and becoming Chairman of the Board, as well as on the boards of the Senate Ave YMCA, NAACP, and Flanner House.

He was born in Virginia and graduated from Hampton Institute and Howard University. He came to Indianapolis and was admitted to the bar in 1910. He pled landmark cases challenging segregation in theaters along with his counsel work for the Madame CJ Walker Manufacturing Company. He served the public working as a deputy prosecuting attorney, judge pro tem, and on the Indiana Fair Employment Practices Advisory Board. In 1940, he became the first African American elected to Indiana State Senate, serving until 1964.