Achievement Through the Pandemic (Wtr/Spr 2021)

A LOOK BACK: KAPPA HISTORY

Publicity Committee, and the Commit- tee on Affiliations of Bar Associations. Brokenburr began to take aim at secur- ing civil rights in Indiana. With the advent of the Ku Klux Klan's rise in In- diana and support for white supremacy in the 1920s, he took on several cases to defend blacks. Brokenburr, along with fellow attorneys Ransom and W.S. Henry, represented the NAACP. They joined a host of local Indiana black pro- fessionals who led the fight against the looming threat of segregation. One case of particular note was that of Gaillard v. Grant, in which he argued against a zon- ing ordinance that enforced segregation of Indianapolis neighborhoods. In 1926, this ordinance was found to be unconsti- tutional as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Possibly Brokenburr’s most significant legal contribution to Indiana civil rights was his representation of Herbert J. Cameron in July 1931. Sixteen-year-old Cameron had been arrested with two other black teenagers the previous year for murder and rape. The other two teens had been forcibly taken from their

jail cells and murdered by lynching on August 7, 1930. Cameron escaped the lynch mob but still faced the possibil- ity of being sent to the electric chair if convicted. Brokenburr and Bailey successfully got a change of venue, away from the hostile residents, a prejudiced jury, and a biased judge. After making enthusiastic and persuasive arguments for over a week, the jury found Cameron guilty of being an accessory to voluntary manslaughter. This verdict carried a maximum sentence of two to ten years in the Indiana State Reformatory. Their defense saved Cameron from a certain death sentence. Brokenburr practiced before the Su- preme Court in 1953. He won some landmark cases concerning segregation in theaters and housing. He was ap- pointed as judge pro-tem of the mu- nicipal, superior, and circuit courts of Marion County, Indiana.

began in 1912, 1932, and 1934, when he ran for a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives but lost each election. In 1940, Brokenburr’s perseverance paid off when he ran as the Republican nomi- nee for the Indiana Senate. His win- ning campaign made him the first black elected to the Indiana State legislature. Except for a two-year hiatus, he served continuously before retiring from the General Assembly in 1964. During his terms in the Senate from 1941 to 1947 and from 1953 to 1963, Brokenburr used this position to con- tinue his fight for Indiana civil rights advancement. In his inaugural year in of- fice, he authored a bill that desegregated the Indiana National Guard. In 1942, the Indiana High School Athlet- ic Association (IHSAA) agreed to admit “colored” and parochial schools after Bro- kenburr proposed a bill banning segrega- tion in IHSAA tournaments. The bill was approved by the Senate but was defeated in the House. The IHSAA relented to the stemming pressure the following year, allowing the all-black Crispus Attucks High School team to play in the tourna-

Active Legislator

Aside from serving in Indianapolis as an attorney, Brokenburr was also a legis- lator. His efforts to serve in this role

Governor Matthew Welsh signs 1963 Indiana Civil Rights Bill (S. 131) witnessed by sponsors (standing L-R) Marshall Kizer, Robert Rock, Brokenburr and L. Keith Bulen.

56 | WINTER 2020-SPRING 2021 ♦ THE JOURNAL

Publishing achievement for more than 107 years

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