Henry Richardson, Jr.

Henry Richardson, Jr. was an Indianapolis lawyer and politician who spent his career fighting for Civil Rights in Indiana. He is best known for his legal battles against segregation and racial inequality in education and housing [1]. Richardson was born in Huntsville, Alabama in 1902. He moved to Indianapolis when he was seventeen in search of educational opportunities. While living at the YMCA, Richardson waited tables to support himself and graduated from Indianapolis Shortridge High School in 1921. He studied at the University of Illinois for two years before moving back to Indianapolis, earning his law degree from the Indiana University School of Law in 1928 [2].

By the early 1930s, Richardson was an established lawyer with an interest in politics. In 1930, he was appointed a temporary judge in the Marion County Superior Court [3] and ran for state representative. He did not win the nomination, but continued to build his reputation as a Democrat leader [4]. Richardson was elected to the House of Representatives in 1932, [5] becoming the first African American Democrat elected to the Indiana legislature [6]. During his first term, he sponsored a law requiring contracts for public buildings to contain “agreements not to discriminate because of race or color in the employment of workers" [7]. Richardson was re-elected to the House in 1934. During his second term, he and six other Democrats co-sponsored a bill to strengthen Indiana’s 1885 Civil Rights Law [8]. Richardson believed the existing law did not adequately protect African Americans from “discrimination and intimidation on account of race or color" [9]. However, the Indiana General Assembly did not introduce legislation that strengthened Civil Rights in the state until after World War II [10].

In 1947, Richardson and his wife Roselyn attempted to send their son to the neighborhood school. The school refused his enrollment, and instead, their son was sent to an all-black school located miles from their home. In response, Richardson presented a plan to the school board to end segregation in Indianapolis schools. Working with other Indianapolis lawyers and the NAACP, he took the time to build a strong case proving African American schools did not receive the same funds or facilities as white schools [11]. Two years later, Richardson coauthored a bill that sought to abolish segregation in Indiana schools. It passed quickly by the House of Representatives. The bill then went to the Republican-dominated Senate. Governor Schricker met with Democratic senators to ask for their support in passing the bill. Despite widespread support from the Indianapolis community and press, Republican senators still sought to restrict the bill with additional amendments. Finally, after some delaying tactics from the Republicans, the Senate passed the bill, becoming law [12].

In 1953, Richardson helped win a case for integrated housing in Evansville, Indiana [13]. Fulfilling his role as the Hoosier legal counsel for the NAACP, Richardson secured a court injunction against the Evansville Housing Authority. The order enforced integration of public housing “regardless of race, creed or color" [14].

In addition to his work fighting for desegregation in schools and housing, Henry Richardson was involved in a multitude of organizations. He organized the Indianapolis Urban League in 1965, worked for the Federal Civil Rights Commission throughout the 1960s, served as a board member of the Indianapolis Church Federation, supported the YMCA, and served on both the Mayor’s Advisory Council and the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee [15]. In 1971, he received the key to the city of Indianapolis from Mayor Richard Lugar [16]. Richardson died in 1983 [17]. The Indianapolis Recorder boasted about his legal prowess and lifelong battle for racial equality, deeming him the “Father of Civil Rights in Indiana" [18].

[1] “Henry J. Richardson, Jr. Receives the Key to the City from Indianapolis Mayor Richard Lugar,” Indianapolis Recorder Collection, Indianapolis Historical Society, May 5, 1971, https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/p0303/id/388.
[2] Ryan Schwier and Ravay Smith, “’Thirst for Justice’: Indiana’s Pioneering Black Lawyers,” Indiana Legal Archive, February 23, 2015, http://www.indianalegalarchive.com/journal/2015/2/18/thirst-for-justice.
[3] Ryan Schwier and Ravay Smith, “’Thirst for Justice.’”
[4] Emma Lou Thornburgh, Indiana Blacks in the Twentieth Century (Indiana University Press, 2000), 88.
[5] Thornburgh, 91.
[6] Henry Medge, “Who’s Who in the Community,” Indianapolis Recorder (Indianapolis, IN), November 23, 1974.
[7] Thornburgh, 91.
[8] Thornburgh, 91.
[9] Jae Jones, “Henry Richardson: Key Figure in Amending the State Constitution to Integrate the National Guard,” Black Then, June 16, 2020, https://blackthen.com/henry-richardson-key-figure-amending-state-constitution-integrate-national-guard/.
[10] Ryan Schwier and Ravay Smith, “’Thirst for Justice.’”
[11] Thornburgh, 145.
[12] Thornburgh, 146.
[13] Jae Jones, “Henry Richardson.”
[14] Henry Medge, “Who’s Who in the Community.”
[15] Ryan Schwier and Ravay Smith, “’Thirst for Justice.’”
[16] “Henry J. Richardson, Jr. Receives the Key to the City from Indianapolis Mayor Richard Lugar,” Indianapolis Historical Society.
[17] Ryan Schwier and Ravay Smith, “’Thirst for Justice.’”
[18] Henry Medge, “Who’s Who in the Community.”

Student Author: Gwyneth Harris
Faculty/Staff Editors: Dr. Ronald V. Morris, Dr. Kevin C. Nolan, and Christine Thompson
Graduate Assistant Researchers: Carrie Vachon and JB Bilbrey

PHOTO & VIDEO:
Henry J. Richardson, Jr. Desk Portrait, Indiana Historical Society, P0472.
https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/V0002/id/5923/rec/8