Hugh C. Brooks (June 19, 1922October 8, 2008) was an American economic geographer, author, educator, and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

who specialized in the history and political economy of Africa.

Life and career

Brooks was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington, on June 19, 1922. He served in the US Army (1941-1946), where he was a member of Regimental HQ Company, 310th Infantry, 78th Division, and received the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

, and

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

for his service in the European Theater."Hugh C. Brooks," ''Contemporary Authors Online''. He attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in Seattle, where he received the B.A. in 1947, and then the M.A. from the lnstitute of International Relations in Geneva in 1948. Brooks began teaching Geography at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

in Corvallis (1950-1951), and then taught at

Teachers College A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, where he received the M.A. (1952) and Ed.D. (1954). His dissertation topic was "Directed Studies in Introductory College Geography." He also taught at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

, 1952-1954. A

Fulbright award The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

enabled Brooks to lecture at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

from 1955-1957, where he worked under Dr. John Wellington, before he began teaching at

Newark State College Kean University () is a public university in Union and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Kean University was founded in 1855 in Newark, New Jersey, as the Newark Normal School. Initially establi ...

as an Associate Professor of Geography, 1957-1961. Brooks then joined the faculty of St. John's University in 1961 as Associate Professor of Geography and Director of their Institute of African Studies, to "prepare students to work in Africa, or for organizations working within the continent. When the African Center was discontinued, Brooks was made a member of the History Department, where he remained until his retirement, and was the Department Chair in the 1980s. Brooks was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (London) in 1965. Among the doctoral students he supervised at St. John's were Thomas Hachey, who taught at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, and Peter DiMeglio, who taught at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. Brooks' first wife, Savina Vicini, died in 1994. They had two children, Robert and Alison. (Robert "Bobby" Brooks was an entertainment agent who died in the same helicopter crash with

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

.) Brooks then married Beatrice Shelley and lived in Pembroke Pines, Florida, until his death in 2008."Obituary of Hugh Campbell Brooks,"
''New York Times'', October 11, 2008.

Scholarship

Brooks co-authored a textbook (with George T. Renner), ''Directed Studies in Introductory College Geography'' (1958), as well as (with Bertrand P. Boucher) ''Field Trips in New Jersey'' (1962), and (with Richard Keppel) ''Effective Teaching With Aero-View Transparencies: A Comprehensive Visual Presentation of the Geography, History and Economic Assets of the United States of America'' (1964). While consulting with McGraw-Hill, Sadlier, and Grolier in the late 1960s, he developed several textbooks for younger students, including ''Africa: A High School Geography'' (1966), ''Africa: A Junior High School Geography'' (1966), and ''The Old World: Africa'' (1968). He co-authored several books on African geography and culture: (with Michael G. Mensoian) ''Arab World, New Africa'' (1969); (with

Yosef ben-Jochannan Yosef Alfredo Antonio Ben-Jochannan (; December 31, 1918 – March 19, 2015), referred to by his admirers as "Dr. Ben", was an American writer and historian. He was considered to be one of the more prominent Afrocentricism, Afrocentric scholars ...

and Kempton Webb) ''Africa: Lands, Peoples, and Cultures of the World'' (1969); and (with William Norris, and David Dicker) ''The People of New Africa'' (1972). Brooks also produced three books with colleagues from St. John's: (co-editor with Yassin El-Ayouty) ''Refugees South of the Sahara: An African Dilemma'' (1970); (co-editor with Yassin El-Ayouty) ''Africa and International Organization'' (1974); and (with Francis A. Lees) ''The Economic and Political Development of the Sudan'' (1977). He also contributed articles on seven African countries to Grolier's ''Lands and Peoples'' reference set, which was first published in 1972 but subsequently went through over ten editions. Brooks worked with the Image Bank in the late 1980s to select photographs for a projected coffee-table book, ''Africa: The Land and the People'', but it was never published.

Bibliography

"Bobby Brooks Service to Be Held Thursday,"
''Los Angeles Times,'' August 29, 1990.
"PFC Hugh C Brooks," ''Find A Grave'' website
19 January 2020. *"Hugh C. Brooks," ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Detroit: Gale, 2001, ''Literature Resource Center'', Web. 19 December 2014.
"Obituary of Hugh Campbell Brooks,"
''New York Times'', October 11, 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Hugh C. 1922 births 2008 deaths Teachers College, Columbia University alumni St. John's University (New York City) faculty 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers American geographers Economic geographers Historians of Africa 20th-century geographers United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers Recipients of the Silver Star American male non-fiction writers