A pioneer in the field of African American history and a distinguished scholar and educator, Emma Lou Thornbrough was born on Jan. 24, 1913, in Indianapolis. After graduating from Shortridge High School, she earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees from Butler University and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1946. That same year she began a thirty-seven-year career at Butler University when she joined the staff as an assistant professor in the history and political science department. Thornbrough retired in 1983 as professor emerita of history.

Over the course of her career at Butler, Thornbrough received numerous honors, including a 1955–56 Ford Faculty Fellowship for research in African American history, the Outstanding Professor Award in 1965, and the Butler Medal in 1981. In 1994 she received an award for scholarly distinction from the American Historical Association. “Through her prolific career and distinguished scholarship, her teaching, her mentorship of younger colleagues, and her service to the profession,” the citation read, “Emma Lou Thornbrough has gained recognition among those in African-American history as one of the outstanding pioneers in the field.”

Reflecting on her years as an educator, Thornbrough said that her favorite courses to teach were Afro-American History and Constitutional History. A staunch supporter of liberal arts, she was a driving force in the development of the Change and Tradition course. Outside the classroom, her interests included gardening and travel. She especially enjoyed attending the theater in London. She died in 1994.