[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 84 (Monday, June 13, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING DR. MARION J. BROOKS AND THE NAMING OF THE DR. MARION J. 
                            BROOKS BUILDING

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 13, 2011

  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the contributions 
of Dr. Marion Jackson Brooks, an individual fondly known as ``Dr. 
Jack,'' a name not only synonymous with medical care among Fort Worth's 
African-American community, but also the community at large. As a 
lifelong resident of the City of Fort Worth, he was a devoted family 
man, a generous and caring physician, a tireless advocate for social 
justice and a steadfast friend. His legacy of community service has 
been immortalized in Fort Worth through the naming of the Tarrant 
County Health Building in his honor.
  Jack Brooks was the third of four boys born to Roy and Eula Brooks, 
graduating from I.M. Terrell High School in 1936. A born leader, he 
became commander of the ROTC while attending Prairie View A & M 
College, a service that presaged his role in World War II as an army 
First Lieutenant.
  On Christmas Day, 1945, Jack married the former Marie Louise Norris 
and shortly thereafter moved to Washington D.C. where he received an 
honorable discharge and enrolled in Medical School at Howard 
University. He graduated 5th in the medical school class in 1951 and 
returned to Fort Worth with his wife and four children to begin 
practicing medicine in Fort Worth's black business district.
  From this vantage point, he recognized the broad needs of his 
community beyond the delivery and access to quality health care and 
encouraged and helped politically organize the African-American 
community through dissemination of information, programs, voter 
registration and organization.
  Dr. Brooks worked toward expanding access and equality for his 
community. Initiatives he worked and advocated for included integration 
of Fort Worth's hospitals and public school district, serving as co-
founder and the first president of the Sickle Cell Anemia Association 
of Texas, and service on boards and commissions devoted to his alma 
mater, Prairie View. Additionally he worked to expand economic 
opportunities as head of the local Urban League chapter and toward 
expanding political empowerment as a founding organizer of the Tarrant 
County Precinct Workers Council.
  He expanded his medical practice with his brother Donald through the 
establishment of the Brooks Clinic in Fort Worth's Morningside 
Community, a full-service medical facility in the heart of the African-
American community. In this neighborhood he and his wife established a 
home for what had now expanded to a family of five children and 
organized the Morningside United Methodist Church in their living room 
in 1962. From this foundation he served over 30 years as Sunday school 
teacher.
  Dr. Brooks also contributed to the McDonald Branch Y.M.C.A., Free and 
Accepted Masons-Prince Hall, Ft. Worth Chamber of Commerce, the Ft. 
Worth Symphony Orchestra and served as the first African-American 
member of the Parks and Recreation Board of the City of Ft. Worth. He 
was also a professional affiliate of the Tarrant county Medical 
Society, American Association of Family Practice Physicians, and the 
National Medical Association. He was also a member of the Alpha Phi 
Alpha Fraternity, NAACP and SNCC.
  Through his medical practice and his life, Dr. Brooks remained 
committed to the underrepresented and underprivileged. He accepted his 
role of service as a physician within the African-American community 
and broadened the responsibility to speak out for the rights of its 
citizens as an elder statesman, impacting the lives before closing his 
story of service to God, family and community on March 3, 2003.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to recognize Dr. Brooks contributions to 
the City of Fort Worth and to celebrate the naming of the Dr. Marion J. 
Brooks Building. He has enriched the city, county and state which I am 
honored to represent.

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