The Honorable Karen Freeman-Wilson

Lawyer and political leader Karen Freeman-Wilson was born on October 24, 1960 in Gary, Indiana to Myrlin and Travis Freeman. She earned her B.A. degree in economics and African American Studies from Harvard University in 1982 and her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1985 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

After law school, Freeman-Wilson became director of the Indiana Civil Rights Commission in Indianapolis, serving in this role from 1988 to 1992. In 1988, she went into private practice in Gary, Indiana and was elected in 1994 to serve as a judge on the Gary City Court. In 2000, she went to serve for one year as the Indiana Attorney General. That same year, Freeman-Wilson joined the National Association of Drug Court Professionals in Alexandria, Virginia, and later served as its president and chief executive officer for five years. Then, in 2011, Freeman-Wilson made history when she was elected as the first female Mayor of Gary, Indiana. She served in this role until 2019. She became president, in 2020, of the Chicago Urban League in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to her legal and civic leadership, Freeman-Wilson also pursued legal education as a profession as an adjunct professor of family law at the Valparaiso University School of Law in Valparaiso, Indiana from 1987 to 1988 and as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis, Indiana from 1990 to 1992. Subsequently, from 2001 to 2006, she served as the lead faculty member at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada.

During her career, Freeman-Wilson served on the boards of Sandy Hook Promise, the National Police Foundation, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Center for Community Progress, the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, and the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Northern Indiana Chapter of Links, Inc., the American Bar Association, and the Indiana State Bar Association.

Her numerous honors include the Sagamore of the Wabash Award (from former Indiana Governors Evan Bayh and Frank O’Bannon), the Achievement in Civil Rights Award from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Senator Carolyn Mosby Above and Beyond Award from Indiana Black Expo, a Woman of Distinction Award from the YWCA of Gary, induction into the Stanley Goldstein Drug Court Hall of Fame, a bicentennial medal from Indiana University in 2019, and the Edward H. Wright Award from the Cook County Bar Association in 2022. Ebony magazine featured Freeman-Wilson on its 50 Leaders of the Future list in 1989.

She resides in Gary, Indiana with her husband, Mr. Carmen Wilson II, and they have children.

The Honorable Karen Freeman-Wilson was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on May 22, 2023.