Brooke, Edward W.

Brooke, Edward W. (William)

(1919–  ) U.S. senator; born in Washington, D.C. A graduate of Howard University and Boston University law school, he served as attorney general of Massachusetts from 1962–66. A Republican, he was elected to the U.S. Senate (1967–79), the first African-American senator elected in the 20th century.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.