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{{Short description|Indiana politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Robert Brokenburr
| image =
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| office = Indiana State Senator
| status = 
| term_start = 1940
| term_end = 1960
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1886|11|16}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1974|3|24|1886|11|16}}|
| children = 2, including [[Nerissa Brokenburr Stickney]]
| birth_place = [[Phoebus, Virginia]], U.S.
| party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
}}
'''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 Party (United States)|Republican]] for an Indiana Senate seat in 1940 and became the first African-American elected to the body where he served for 20 years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://crdl.usg.edu/export/html/xhs/inrec/crdl_xhs_inrec_85.html?Welcome|title=Welcome to the Civil Rights Digital Library|website=crdl.usg.edu}}</ref> Prior to running for office, Brokenburr worked as counsel and general manager for the [[Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company|Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company]] while carrying on his own practice litigating civil rights cases.<ref name=":0" />

== 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.<ref name=":0">https://indianahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/robert-lee-brokenburr-papers-and-photographs.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref>

He graduated from [[Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute]] in 1906, and received a law degree from [[Howard University]] in 1909.<ref name=":0" /> He was admitted to the Indiana State Bar in 1910.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis|last=Bodenhamer|first=David|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=1994|isbn=0253112494|pages=357}}</ref>

== 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.<ref name=":0" /> The ordinance was declared unconstitutional by the Circuit Court of Marion County in 1926.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/248997914/NAACP-Seventeenth-Ann-Rep-1926|title=Legal Defense|date=January 1927|work=Seventeenth Annual Report of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People}}</ref> In ''Baily vs. Washington Theatre Company'', he represented a woman who was refused service at a theater based on her race. Although the court initially ruled against Ms. Baily, the decision was overturned on appeal.<ref name=":0" />

Brokenburr also served as deputy prosecuting attorney for [[Marion County, Indiana|Marion County]] from 1919 to 1931.<ref name=":1" /> He retired from practice in 1971.<ref name=":0" />

=== The Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company ===
In addition to his private practice, he helped Madame [[C.J. Walker]] form the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company, writing the articles of incorporation and serving as general manager and counsel for the company.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blackthen.com/robert-l-brokenburr-civil-rights-activist-first-black-elected-indiana-senate/|title=Robert L. Brokenburr: Civil Rights Activist & First Black Elected to Indiana Senate|date=December 6, 2017}}</ref> The company, which sold cosmetic and haircare products for black women, went on to be one of the most successful African-American owned businesses in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197708|title=Madam C.J. Walker|date=2008-10-10|website=Entrepreneur|language=en|access-date=2020-02-02}}</ref>

=== NAACP presidency ===
Brokenburr became president of the Indianapolis chapter of the [[NAACP]] in 1914.<ref name=":0" />

=== Political career ===
Brokenburr unsuccessfully ran for office in the Indiana House of Representatives three times between 1912 and 1934. In 1940, he ran as a Republican candidate for the [[Indiana Senate]] and became the first African-American elected to the Indiana State Senate. He served four additional terms in 1944, 1952, 1956, and 1960. As state senator, he wrote the act establishing the Indiana Civil Rights Commission.<ref name=":1" />

In 1955, President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] appointed Brokenburr as an alternate delegate to the [[United Nations]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

== Personal life ==
Brokenburr married Alice Glover, who also attended Hampton Normal, in 1911 in Indianapolis. They had two children, [[Nerissa Brokenburr Stickney]] and Alice Brokenburr Ray; both daughters were pianists trained at [[Oberlin Conservatory of Music]].<ref name=":0" />

After Alice died in 1945, Brokenburr married his second wife, Nettie. who died in 1969.<ref name=":0" />

==See also==
*[[List of African-American officeholders (1900–1959)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{find a Grave|7183749}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brokenburr, Robert}}
[[Category:Republican Party Indiana state senators]]
[[Category:1886 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American politicians]]
[[Category:African-American men in politics]]
[[Category:African-American state legislators in Indiana]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:African-American lawyers]]
[[Category:Indiana lawyers]]
[[Category:People from Elizabeth City County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Hampton University alumni]]
[[Category:Howard University School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:NAACP activists]]
[[Category:African-American activists]]
[[Category:American civil rights lawyers]]
[[Category:Burials at Crown Hill Cemetery]]

Robert Brokenburr - Revision history

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