Henry J. Richardson Jr.

Henry Johnson Richardson Jr. (June 21, 1902 – December 5, 1983) was a civil rights lawyer and activist, a member of the Indiana House of Representatives (1932–36), and a judge in Marion County, Indiana. He helped secure passage of Indiana's school desegregation law in 1949 and for organizing the Indianapolis Urban League in 1965. In 1932, he was one of the first two African Americans elected on the Democratic Party ticket to the state house, Richardson was also a leader in gaining passage of state laws that integrated the Indiana National Guard, ended racial discrimination in public accommodations and in Indiana University's student housing, and secured a fair employment practices law for public-works projects. In addition, Richardson won a landmark public housing discrimination case in 1953.

Richardson, an outspoken critic of racial prejudice and discrimination, was an active leader in numerous civic organizations, including the National Urban League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the United Negro College Fund, the Indianapolis Urban League, the Indiana Board of Public Welfare, the local Federation of Associated Clubs, the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee, and the Indianapolis Church Federation, among others.