Servant leadership is more than a philosophy for Rev. Franklin E. Breckenridge Sr. and his wife, Cora Smith Breckenridge. Helping others would become a lifelong passion for the Indiana University graduates.
Breckenridge, a retired attorney in Kokomo, Indiana, has devoted his entire career to civil rights and justice for people of color, serving 25 years as president of the Indiana chapter of the NAACP. After graduating from IU with a bachelor’s degree, he worked as a teacher in Kokomo while attending law classes at night—the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till piqued his interest in the legal profession.
“When I viewed the body of Emmett Till in the casket, I made up my mind I was going to try to do something to keep that from happening to any other Black boy or man in this country,” Breckenridge recalls. “l decided working as a lawyer and working in the system was the best way to do it.”
In 1973, Breckenridge became a corporate attorney for Miles Laboratories—later acquired by Bayer Corp.—and practiced law there until 1998. That same year, Breckenridge and his wife, Cora, established an endowed scholarship for an entering freshman at IU Kokomo.
Over the years, giving back became a daily mantra for Breckenridge. He provided pro bono legal services to the NAACP and served as pastor at African Methodist Episcopal churches in La Porte, South Bend and Elkhart. He was also instrumental in desegregating Indianapolis and South Bend schools.
During this time, Breckenridge continued his philanthropic work at IU, serving on the IU South Bend Chancellor’s 100 Committee, the Neal-Marshall Alumni Club and the McKinney School of Law Board of Visitors. Today, his involvement in IU continues, supporting IU Athletics, IU Kokomo, the McKinney School of Law and the Indiana University Alumni Association.
Breckenridge’s support for IU was recognized in 2022 when he received the university’s Distinguished Alumni Service Award. The award, the highest bestowed on an IU alumna or alumnus by the university, recognizes individuals for service and achievement in their fields and significant contributions to the community, state, nation or university.
Making a Difference for the Future
The concept of giving back is not lost on Cora Smith Breckenridge.
Born to parents who worked in the cotton fields of Alabama, Smith Breckenridge began her career taking classes through the IU extension program at the Calumet Center in East Chicago. She later transferred to Indiana University Bloomington, where she met her future husband, Franklin, to complete her bachelor’s degree in speech and hearing therapy and a master's in education.
During her undergraduate career, Smith Breckenridge served as the vice president of the Pleiades Honorary Society, secretary of the senior class, member and secretary of the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority, member of the IU Student Foundation and elected a member of the prestigious Mortar Board.
Smith Breckenridge spent the next three decades working as a speech language pathologist in East Chicago, Kokomo, Indianapolis and Elkhart Community Schools of Indiana
and Royal Oaks, Michigan. She would become the first Black person to be elected to the Indiana University Board of Trustees in 1997, serving three terms on the board. Throughout her board tenure, she focused on three core issues—keeping higher education accessible and affordable, retaining and recruiting students and recruiting and retaining top-notch faculty and administrators.
Smith Breckenridge's service extends well beyond her work for Indiana University. She also served as president of the Elkhart County NAACP and was elected to the National Board of Directors of the NAACP from 2000 until 2012.
In 2019, Breckenridge received the IU Bicentennial Medal for her distinguished service on the IU Board of Trustees.
Today, both Franklin and Cora continue to give back, both financially and of their time, to organizations that improve the educational and economic outcomes of future generations and that had an impact on their own lives and careers. This support includes IU Athletics, IU Kokomo, the McKinney School of Law and the Indiana University Alumni Association.