Robert Brokenburr
Robert Lee Brokenburr (November 16, 1886 – March 24, 1974) was an American attorney, civil rights leader, and state legislator in Indiana. After several election campaigns, Brokenburr ran as a Republican for an Indiana Senate seat in 1940 and became the first African-American elected to the body where he served for 20 years. Prior to running for office, Brokenburr worked as counsel and general manager for the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company while carrying on his own practice litigating civil rights cases. Early life and education Robert Lee Brokenburr was born on November 16, 1886 in Phoebus, Virginia. His father, Benjamin Brokenburr, was emancipated from slavery as a child. He graduated from Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in 1906, and received a law degree from Howard University in 1909. He was admitted to the Indiana State Bar in 1910. Career Law career In 1910, Brokenburr moved to Indianapolis where he shared an office with Freeman B. Ransom. While in practice, he won several early civil rights victories. In Galliard v. Grant, he challenged an Indianapolis ordinance which divided the city into zones segregated by race. The ordinance was declared unconstitutional by the Circuit Court of Marion County in 1926. In