Edward W. Brooke, who broke down barriers, dies at 95 - January 5, 2015

By Mark Feeney | Globe Staff

Edward W. Brooke, the Massachusetts Republican who was the first African-American to be elected to the US Senate since Reconstruction, died Saturday morning in his Coral Gables, Fla., home. He was 95, and his health had declined in the past couple of months.

Mr. Brooke served in the Senate from 1967 to 1979. Elected attorney general in 1962 and reelected two years later, he was the first African-American to hold that office in any state.

“As the first African-American elected as a state’s attorney general and first African-American US senator elected after Reconstruction, Ed Brooke stood at the forefront of the battle for civil rights and economic fairness,” President Obama said. “During his time in elected office, he sought to build consensus and understanding across partisan lines, always working towards practical solutions to our nation’s challenges.”

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