Biography
Nathan Covington Brooks, the youngest son of John and Mary Brooks, was born in West Nottingham, Cecil County, Maryland on August 12, 1809. He began his education at the West Nottingham Academy, and upon graduating enrolled at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. There he received a Master of Arts with his thesis consisting of a poem. After receiving his degree, Brooks began his teaching career at the age of 16 in Charlestown, Cecil County. He held this position for two years before opening a private school in Baltimore, Maryland in 1826, where he remained for five years. In 1831, he was elected principal of the Franklin Academy, located in Reisterstown, Maryland. After three years, Brooks resigned to become principal of the Brookeville Academy in Montgomery County, Maryland. However, in 1836, he resigned from the academy because the school was unable to pay his salary.
In 1839, Brooks was unanimously selected out of a pool of 45 candidates to be the first principal of the new male high school in Baltimore—later renamed the Baltimore City College. He served in this capacity until 1849, when he resigned to serve as the only president of the Baltimore Female College, the first institution of higher learning for women in Maryland. While at the Baltimore Female College, Brooks was granted an LL.D. from Emory College in Oxford, Georgia in 1859. He served as president of the Baltimore Female College until it was closed in 1890.
Brooks was married twice and fathered 11 children. He was wed to Mary Elizabeth Gobright on May 8, 1826, and later married Christiana Octavia Crump on June 26, 1867. Brooks died on October 6, 1898 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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